


Inhuman Hearts

by bornforwar_archivist



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-31
Updated: 2006-12-31
Packaged: 2020-03-17 11:10:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 42,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18964063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bornforwar_archivist/pseuds/bornforwar_archivist
Summary: By EchidnaAn inhuman heart and a ritual to call the First Slayer Brings Buffy and Spike together and forces them to face their relationship. After Normal Again!





	Inhuman Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Delenn, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Born For War](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Born_For_War), which closed in 2015. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in March 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Born For War collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bornforwar).
> 
> Summary: An inhuman heart and a ritual to call the First Slayer Brings Buffy and Spike together and forces them to face their relationship. After Normal Again! 
> 
> Spoilers: Everything up to Normal Again. 
> 
> Rating: NC-17

Part I - It   
  
A squeaking ring was heard as Buffy opened the door to the Magic Shop. It had been closed for weeks now and there were no news of Anya since the failed marriage experience.   
  
Buffy ran her finger over the counter. There was about half an inch of dust covering it. She sighed and remembered the days when everything as normal. She pictured Giles dusting the old books, Anya taking her place behind the cash register, Willow peacefully skimming through a book without having to worry about the magic addiction, while Tara sat by her side absentmindedly caressing her lover’s back. Dawn would probably be desperately trying to hide from Xander, the Tickle-Master.   
  
Buffy smiled at the memory. She really missed the past, where everything and everyone was carefree, except for Giles of course.   
  
She tried to move in the shadows, she didn’t want to turn on the lights. These days she took comfort in the dark and tonight was one of the murkiest nights in years, with clouds concealing practically all the faint light emanating from the full moon. “Perfect night for all the beasties…" Buffy wasn’t able to finish her thoughts as she heard a noise coming from the back door. “Anya…?" she thought as she made her way to where the sound came from. Hidden in the shadows, the slayer saw a dusky figure coming towards her. As it moved between the various cupboards, Buffy struggled to get a good look at it. One thing was for sure: it wasn’t human. Far from it. It was short, couldn’t be more than twenty inches tall, and extremely thin. Its long arms reached for a specific book and Buffy was able to tell that it had only three very long fingers, and slime was dripping from them.   
  
“Great! Why do they always have to be slimy?" she thought to herself as she prepared to confront the demon. She crawled her way toward it and when she thought she was close enough she stood up and shouted:   
  
“Hold it right there, buster!"   
  
The strange creature turned to face the Slayer, as it looked up she saw two large eyes staring at her. Then it gave her a forced smile, revealing its total lack of teeth. Buffy frowned and just stood there two feet away from it. Suddenly it started running away from her. And boy did it run fast. Fortunately, it wasn’t very smart, either that or it had a very bad sense of direction. It seemed to move completely at random, making tight u turns, zigzagging all over the place, hitting everything that was in its way as it frantically searched for a way out.   
  
“Hey, put that book down or Anya is gonna kill me!" Buffy shouted as she tried to get her hands on the damned thing. “Stop moving, you idiot!" yelled.   
  
Suddenly it stopped and stared at her with a very serious face, huge eyes gawking at her in discontentment.   
  
“Me no is idiot." It squeaked with a high pitched voice.   
  
Buffy saw her opportunity and threw herself at him. Tough it slipped away, she was able to grab the heavy book.   
  
“Give it back!" she cried out at the funny looking creature that still clung to the book as to dear life itself.   
  
“No!" it squealed.   
  
“Yes!"   
  
“No!"   
  
“Yes!"   
  
“NO, no!"   
  
“Yes, yes, yes!"   
  
“No times infinity!" it finally added as a silly grin spread over its mouth. “Me win!"   
  
“What are you, 6?" Buffy frowned, still lying on her stomach, her arms reaching upwards as she held onto the book.   
  
It just stared back. It didn’t understand what she had said.   
  
“Give. IT. BACK!" she shouted off the top of her lungs.   
  
“NO!" it squeaked back “Master want it for ritual."   
  
“Ritual?" Buffy asked. The creature realised it had said too much, letting go of the book to cover his mouth with both hands.   
  
“Oh-oh!"   
  
Buffy stood up and tried to grab it, but it started running again and this time, after a few zigzags, it found the shopping window breaking it as it hit it. Buffy made her way to the window trying not to step on any shattered glass and looked out. In the middle of the street lay the strange creature scratching its wounded head.   
  
“Ouch!"   
  
Buffy reached for the knob of the door to open it, but when she came out of the shop it was gone.   
  
***********************************   
  
“So let me get this straight: last night a slimy, short Kate Moss version of ET tried to steal one of Giles’ books for his master, who wants to perform a ritual?" Xander asked as he finished patching up the big whole left by the broken window.   
  
“That pretty much sums it up, yeah." Buffy agreed as she sat down next to Willow. “You ok with being here?" she whispered to her best friend.   
  
Willow glanced around, looking at all the books and magic objects: “It’s hard but I’ll manage. I know you need my help and sooner or later I would have to come to the Magic Shop. Plus it’s easier with Tara here." She finished as she smiled at her former lover who was sitting across the table from her skimming through a book with Dawn looking over shoulder.   
  
“Is-is this it?" Tara asked handing Buffy the large book in her hands.   
  
“Yep, that’s our ET. What is it?"   
  
“It’s a Khind’Ara. It says here that it’s-it’s pretty harmless, not very bright. But it’s not very usual to find him in this dimension… and it’s very big on-on serving other larger, stronger demons in order to survive. Not much more on this Khind’Ara demon." Tara explained.   
  
“Well, that we already knew. Anything on the book he tried to steal, Willow?" Buffy asked taking her place next to her again.   
  
“Not really. I’m still trying to translate some interesting parts. It's written in Djaklan." As she saw everyone staring at her, she explained: “It’s a common demon language. Giles taught me a few things." She paused flipping the pages. “It has a very confusing past tense, but I think I can translate it. I’ll have to take this home and check some things on the net. It’ll take the rest of the day probably."   
  
“Well, I guess that’s it then. I’ll take a walk around town, check out the usual haunts, try to see if I can get something out of the low lives at Willie’s. Tara, can you go through the latest newspapers and see if anything unusual has happen in the last few days?"   
  
Tara nodded.   
  
“Xander, can you take Dawn home? I don’t want her out while some beastie is trying to perform some obscure ritual."   
  
“Sure thing, Buffy!"   
  
“No, Buffy!" Dawn protested “Can’t I stay here with Tara and go through the newspapers, please!?!" she begged.   
  
“No. That thing might come back for the book again."   
  
“What? Little ET? I think I can take him." Xander said with a bloated chest.   
  
Buffy looked at him and couldn’t help smiling. He looked so silly when he tried to play the strong leading man.   
  
“Please, Buffy! At least lets set up the centre of operations back home so I can help." Dawn suggested.   
  
Buffy sighed as she pondered the issue.   
  
“Fine! Xander, keep an eye on her. Also, see if you can get something else on our jittery little friend."   
  
Xander nodded and Dawn sighed in relief.   
  
  
  
Part II - Inhuman Heart   
  
Buffy roamed the empty streets for hours and got nothing. Even after squeezing Willie’s throat and threatening to shut down his bar for good, she had absolutely no leads to go on.   
  
As she walked, stake in hand, she decided to give another go at it and headed towards the Sunnydale Cemetery.   
  
Two hours went by and… nothing! She sighed audibly. Just as she was about to turn on her heels and head home she heard a squeaking sound, a sound that had become familiar to her since the night before.   
  
She silently moved in the direction the sound came from and crouched behind a small bush for cover. There it was, moving frenetically in circles while squeezing its hands together.   
  
“Me no bring book. Master be angry. Me dead. Me no bring book. Master angry. Me dead. Me no…" He went on and on.   
  
Buffy smiled to herself, she had to admit that was probably the cutest little demon she had ever encountered. She didn’t know if she would ever have the heart to slay it if it ever came to that.   
  
“What a cute little demon…" she thought, but as she realised she was actually liking a demon, she scolded herself “Demon equals bad, not cute. Specially one that is probably a minion to an evil ‘ritual performer’. Get it through your thick skull, demons are evil, not cute, not sweet, not sexy, not hot, not… Ok, now I’m not thinking of little ET anymore. Concentrate, Buffy think about slimy, don’t think about…"   
  
“Spike!" she whispered as she noticed the crouching creature next to her. “What are you doing here?"   
  
“I live here. You always seem to forget that." He answered. “And why are we whispering?" he continued.   
  
She pointed at the funny looking creature pacing around frantically.   
  
“What’s with the scrawny slimy midget?" Spike asked, unfortunately he forgot to whisper and was heard by the demon. It immediately stopped and looked straight at Buffy’s eyes.   
  
Instinctively she jumped towards it and was able to catch it for a few seconds, but the ooze that covered its skin made it slippery and it managed to escape.   
  
“See what you did? Why can’t you just keep your mouth shut for one second?" Buffy yelled at Spike as the creature disappeared from their sight.   
  
“Hey, no need to shout, Slayer. I’m sure the little bugger isn’t that dangerous."   
  
Buffy exhaled forcefully, as if trying to get rid of all her anger through her nostrils, and just stared at the vampire.   
  
“You got your hands covered in that things goo." Spike remarked.   
  
“Really? I didn’t even notice." She answered, sarcasm dripping off every word.   
  
“You’re in a very healthy mood today, needing a round of kick to Spike to cheer up, is it?" he continued with a trademark smirk.   
  
“That wouldn’t be a bad idea at all." She threatened “But I’ve discovered that when dealing with you, the best thing is to just ignore you, so goodbye." She started walking a way, stumbling a bit.   
  
“You ok, Slayer?" he asked half mocking half concerned.   
  
“I’m fine." She continued her path, which was getting more and more wobbly.   
  
“You don’t seem to be." He followed her when he noticed her falter in her stride.   
  
“Ignoring, ignoring, ignuooorin’." She recited her mantra in a drooling tone.   
  
“Why are you talking like that?" he asked, frowning at her as he walked beside her.   
  
“Ignuoooorin’, ingnuo..ring" she continued, somehow it seemed harder and harder to say that word.   
  
“Slayer?" he finally got enough of it, stopping, grabbing her arm and forcing her to face him. “What’s with you?" concern was now the dominating tone in his voice. Something was seriously wrong with her; she was acting like… like she was drunk. “Are you pissed?"   
  
“Yes, I am. I hate youuuu." She mumbled her lips barely able to articulate the words.   
  
“Not pissed angry, luv, pissed as in drunk? Did you have a go at the old tequila bottle?"   
  
“I haven’t had a go at anything and I won’t for a loooooong time." She answered with a pout.   
  
Spike smiled at her little innuendo. She looked so cute when she was drunk.   
  
“Here, I’ll walk ya home, can’t have you stumble your way there, now can I?" he offered.   
  
“No! I don’t need your help, I… I want to get this gunk out of my hands…" and right then and there she started bawling her eyes out.   
  
“Slay-Slayer…" Spike stuttered, “Oh bugger all, she’s not gonna start crying now, is she?" he was completely lost; he never knew what to do when she cried. All of a sudden every move he made seemed out of place, awkward. He reached hesitantly to put a restless strand of her hair back in place behind her ear. “Don-don’t cry. We’ll get you cleaned up in a jiffy."   
  
“I smell, it smells bad, I’m all slimy and-and" she inhaled sharply as a wave of hiccups assaulted her.   
  
“Settle down, it doesn’t smell at all." He tried to calm her as he guided her stumbling body towards his crypt.   
  
“And-and…" and yet another attack of the hiccups assaulted her as Spike opened the door to his crypt and made his way to the underground compartment of his home.   
  
“Shh…"   
  
“And it-it’s yucky…" she continued to protest as Spike turned on the faucet and helped her clean her hands, in a very similar way that Dawn had done months before, on the night of Buffy’s come back.   
  
As she watched him carefully tending to her dirty hands, Buffy had an instant flashback of that night. She couldn’t help it and restarted her wailing.   
  
“Wha-what did I do?" he thought out loud.   
  
She tried to answer but the suffocating mixture of sobs and hiccups prevented her from uttering a word.   
  
“Calm down, sit here." He offered pointing to the edge of his new bed. “Shh, shh, shh." He mumbled sitting next to her, his arms reaching to caress the small of her back.   
  
“Get away!" Buffy cried out standing up. “Don’t think just because I’m a little depressed and you’re being all sweet, and-and nice and-and gentle and sweet…"   
  
“You said sweet already." Spike reminded her, a sly smirk back on his lips.   
  
“Whatever! Don’t think that anything’s going to-to" she stuttered as her index finger alternated between pointing at him and at herself. “You know…"   
  
“No, I don’t know."   
  
“This thing" the finger still dancing between them “is NOT going to happen!" she tried to turn around and leave but a sudden loss of balance made her fall flat on her behind. “Ouch!"   
  
“You ok?" Spike was on his feet and crouching next to her in a heartbeat.   
  
“I’m fine!" she spat as she struggled to get up.   
  
Spike tried to help but soon all there was was a mush of limbs. Buffy’s arms were flying around, attempting to hold onto anything but the annoying vampire kneeling next to her, Spike’s hands were trying to grab her in order to help her up and the Slayer’s legs were kicking up at everything, specially Spike.   
  
“I don’t need your help, I can get up on my own." She said as she struggled to stand.   
  
She finally seemed to be standing up but alas, once more, gravity won over and as she held onto Spike for support, he too came tumbling down right on top of her.   
  
“Hey, watch it Slayer, don’t damage the crown jewels." Spike protested as one of Buffy’s legs came too close to his groin.   
  
“Ha! I don’t think you can call those semi-precious stones… Hick! Let alone the crown jewels." Buffy mocked between hiccups.   
  
“Well, that didn’t seem to be your opinion a few weeks ago when…" Spike’s voice trailed off as their proximity dawned on both of them.   
  
They laid there for a few seconds, just staring at each other. Buffy’s hiccups subsiding and being replaced a rapid breathing. The feel of her body under his, her breath on his face, her eyes on him just made his brain switch to autopilot. Slowly, as if to give her time to back away, he let his face fall closer to hers until his lips brushed over her.   
  
Buffy felt the oh! so familiar felling of butterflies in her stomach and a cold tingling going from her mouth directly to the warm and moist stop between her thighs. She parted her lips, inviting him in and he did.   
  
He captured her upper lip, nipping it lightly and drawing it into his mouth. Buffy moaned in pleasure and inadvertently pushed her hips against his, feeling a familiar pressure on her stomach.   
  
As the kiss grew in intensity, hands came into play. As Buffy rested hers on his waist, Spike’s framed her blushing face.   
  
He broke the kiss and gazed at her intensely. All Buffy could do was stare back at him, her chest raising and falling at a frightening pace.   
  
“God, Buffy I’ve missed you so much!" Spike confessed with an ephemeral breath. His eyes were wide and conveyed such truth to his faltering voice.   
  
The moment was perfect in every aspect. The room seemed to fade away along with all the qualms, doubts and uncertainties of a troubling world. In that peaceful emptiness there was no vampire, no slayer, just two spirits linked together by something greater than either of them.   
  
Yet, the instant was broken by the screeching sound of a door opening.   
  
“Spike, you here?" a familiar male voice was heard. It was Xander.   
  
Buffy’s body went into autopilot. As the Slayer took over her actions, she pushed Spike off her and spat out:   
  
“Don’t EVER come close to me EVER again." And she turned on her heels heading upstairs.   
  
Spike just lay there on the floor. His eyes welled up with aching tears which threatened to course down his pale cheeks at any moment. But, as he had learned a long time ago, he pushed them back and swallowed hard. And with clenched teeth he replaced the hurt and humiliation with anger and hate. He stood up abruptly and followed the object of his hated affection to the upper floor of his crypt.   
  
“Buffester! Thank God I found you!" Xander announced, but seeing Spike he added: “What are you doing her Buffy?"   
  
Buffy exhaled sharply more annoyed than embarrassed by his question:   
  
“I found skinny ET, tried to catch him, got slime on my hands and came here to clean up. What’s up?"   
  
“Well, Willow found out something big and important. Seems the world’s ending again." He said matter-of-factly.   
  
Buffy started heading towards the door when she noticed Spike was following. She was about to say something but Xander was quicker and hissed:   
  
“Where do YOU think you’re going? We don’t need you."   
  
Spike just stared, he expected Buffy to say something in his defence, but she just stood there, in silence.   
  
“Fine, I’ll just stay here and watch telly. Don’t come crying to me when you’re at the sharp end of a demon’s enchanted sword." Spike snarled back, obviously referring to the night the scoobies got trapped in the Summer’s residence.   
  
Xander had no smart comeback for that one. He actually felt a bit guilty as he remembered all the times the vampire had helped out during the summer that Buffy was… gone. He had actually become one of them, but the Slayer’s return changed everything, all of a sudden it was mandatory to hate him again. He didn’t really understand why, but that just seemed to be the rule.   
  
Without another word, Buffy and Xander stepped out and headed for the Magic Shop.   
  
***********************************   
  
“You’re gonna have to run that by me again Willow. What do you mean inhuman heart?" Buffy asked confused.   
  
“That’s what it says. I’m almost positive." Willow answered looking at her notes once more. “From what I can gather, ET’s master wants to summon the power of the first Slayer and use her as his warrior. For that he needs" she scrambled through the notepad and quoted: “an inhuman heart which has – and this I haven’t translated properly yet, but I think it means - “have" or “possess" - Slayer blood."   
  
Everyone looked at each other.   
  
“So all we need to do is get our hands on this inhuman heart and the bad guy will come to us." Xander announced with a witty grin.   
  
“But first we have to figure out who owns this heart." Tara pointed out.   
  
“No need. I already know who it is." Buffy said matter-of-factly as she made her way out of the Magic Shop.   
  
  
  
Part III - Moving In   
  
The familiar sound of a door being kicked open woke Spike from his dream. He wasn’t used to it anymore. It had been weeks since she had stormed into his crypt. He realised just how much he missed it.   
  
“What do you want Slayer?" he asked without even bothering to turn to look at her.   
  
“You." She said.   
  
Spike was startled by the response, and for a few fleeting moments he thought his one prayer had been answered. But as he turned around he saw the cold and lifeless look in her eyes and knew that, once more, his request to a higher being had been denied.   
  
“What, need old Spike’s help, do ya?" he asked with a bitter tone.   
  
“Nop, just you. You’re coming with me." She continued, indifference still graced her steely features.   
  
“Explain." As he noticed her “so do not care about what happens to you, but unfortunately I need to be here" look, he decided to play it her way and assumed the same tone of apathy.   
  
“You have something the bad guy wants. I have you, I have the bad guy."   
  
“You don’t have me Slayer, not anymore." Spike spat out.   
  
An uncomfortable silence settled between them. Was that hurt in her eyes? No, it couldn’t be. She had made it very clear that he meant nothing to her, he was just… convenient.   
  
She stared at him, for a second the hard mask of indifference fell.   
  
“Someone wants to summon the First Slayer and that someone needs your heart to do it." She sighed.   
  
“Huh?"   
  
“Willow translated a passage on a book that an inhuman heart which had tasted the Slayer’s blood was needed to summon the spirit of the First Slayer." She explained.   
  
“I’m sticking with huh." Spike repeated with a frown.   
  
“Look, I don’t understand it either. I just know that you can’t be left here."   
  
“Wha? Afraid something might happen to me?" Spike grinned, taking a few steps forward until he stood right in front of her.   
  
“No… no…" she was caught off guard by his proximity, taking a few steps back.   
  
“Afraid someone might hurt me?" he continued closing the distance between them until she was backed against a wall.   
  
“No…" the feel of the cold stone on her back broke the thrall he had her under and she was able to push him away. “I don’t care what happens to you, all I want is to avoid the comeback of the First Slayer. I had a run in with her a couple of years ago and I don’t wish to repeat it so soon." She hissed moving as far away from him as she could.   
  
Spike sighed and turned around to face her once more. He brought his hand to the bridge of his nose:   
  
“What’s your plan, Slayer?"   
  
“You stay with me until this bad guy comes for you." She stated nonchalantly.   
  
“And what if this guy takes his time? What are you gonna do? Move in?" he asked with an annoying grin plastered on his lips.   
  
“No. You move into my place." She tried to sound casual about it, but deep inside her heart threatened to jump out of her chest. She calmed herself down, trying very hard not to stutter or have her speech falter, and continued: “We don’t have any spare rooms; you can sleep on the couch."   
  
“Thanks for the tempting offer, but I’d prefer to stay here." He stated as he took a pack of cigarettes from his jeans’ back pocket.   
  
“You’re coming with me and…" she moved towards him and grabbed the cigarette, which was now hanging from his mouth, crushed it in her hand and threw it to the floor. “…there will be no smoking in the house."   
  
“And what makes you think I’ll come with you?" he asked taking another cigarette from his pack.   
  
Once more silence fell around them. She looked at him as he lit the cigarette and after a few moments of gazing at each other she replied:   
  
“Because I’m asking you to."   
  
He looked at her. She knew him all too well. He would do anything she asked of him. Pressing his lips together, he nodded taking out the cigarette, throwing it to the floor and putting it out with his right foot.   
  
*********************************************   
  
“Buffy? Where have you been?" Willow asked as she saw Buffy opening the front door. “And what is Spike doing here?"   
  
“He’s the one with the inhuman heart." She answered going into the kitchen, Willow, Dawn and Spike followed her.   
  
Everyone looked at her inquisitively.   
  
“The book spoke of an inhuman heart which has had the blood of a Slayer. Spike here is a demon and has drained two Slayers dry. I figure he’s the one they are talking about." Buffy explained.   
  
“Ah! Wow, you figured that out in seconds back at the Magic Shop; quick thinking Buffy!" Willow congratulated.   
  
“That’s me, quick thinking girl!" Buffy quipped shrugging as she helped herself to a glass of milk.   
  
“So why is he here?" Dawn asked.   
  
“He’s going to stay here until we find out more about little ET and his master."   
  
“Cool!" Dawn replied with a wide smile. Spike smiled back at her.   
  
“Uh! Talking about finding out stuff. There is something you should know about the Khind’Ara. Their slime is kinda toxic. Makes you sort of drunk and hypersensitive." Willow explained.   
  
“Now you tell me." Buffy said between clenched teeth.   
  
Spike was the only one that heard it and smirked at her.   
  
**************************************   
  
“There! This should make it more comfy." Willow said as she finished turning the living room couch into Spike’s new bed.   
  
“Don’t worry Red; I’ve slept in worst places than a couch." Spike tried to reassure her.   
  
“This is so cool." Dawn exclaimed as she entered the room carrying three or four DVD’s under her arm. “We have Moulin Rouge, Ever After, Playing by heart…"   
  
“Don’t you have anything less estrogen oriented?" Spike joked as he sat down.   
  
“…and Deep Throat? Huh?" Dawn frowned as she looked at the cover of the DVD.   
  
Spike immediately jumped off the sofa and snatched the DVD from the girl’s hands.   
  
“Moulin Rouge will do just fine!"   
  
“Spike, when I told you to pack, I meant to get some clothes, not get your kinky toys." Buffy spat out, her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the wall.   
  
“Wha? It’s a classic." He protested.   
  
“And you young lady, it’s a school night, you can watch the movie tomorrow." Buffy continued ignoring the vampires comment.   
  
“Oh! Come on Buffy! It’s just so cool having Spike over. It’s like a slumber party." Dawn argued.   
  
“This is not a slumber party, Dawn." Buffy disagreed. “And Spike is not one of you’re girlfriends, he’s a vampire."   
  
“Yeah, that’s what you keep saying. But he’s different, his chipped." Dawn continued.   
  
“He is…"   
  
Buffy was cut off by Spike’s protest:   
  
“Hey! Do you mind? I’m in the room. You do realise that."   
  
“Go to bed Dawn."   
  
The teenager was about to retort but Buffy order:   
  
“Bed. Now. And not another word."   
  
Dawn had no choice. With a sharp sigh she started up the stairs. Sensing the tension in the room Willow quickly followed her.   
  
“That was a little harsh." Spike said when they where left alone.   
  
“Maybe, but I’m the one who takes care of her. I know what’s best for her." She snarled, turning around towards the stairs.   
  
“Tell yourself that long enough you might actually believe it." Spike uttered sprawling on the couch.   
  
“And what does that mean?" Buffy asked turning to face him.   
  
“You don’t even know what’s good for yourself, let alone a fifteen year old. You live your life worrying about what other people think. Your every action is guided by what you think other people think is the best for you." Spike argued with both hands behind his neck.   
  
“I do what I think is best for me."   
  
“Do you, really? Then why does doing what is best for you hurt so much?" he asked. The smugness was gone from his voice and was replaced by a sincere worry.   
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about." She lied.   
  
Her answer brought rage to Spike’s eyes, in an instant he was in front of her, backing her up against the wall.   
  
“You want to fool yourself? Fine, that’s your problem, but don’t lie to me." He snapped.   
  
Buffy’s mind raced, telling her she had to push him away, but her body failed her. All she could do was stare at him, eyes welling up with tears.   
  
The sight of her watery eyes calmed Spike and he continued with a softer tone.   
  
“Why does everything have to be so bloody hard with you?" he asked as his hand came to rest on the nape of her neck. “Just tell me that. Why?"   
  
They stared at each other in silence. Spike’s voice was barely a whisper as he closed the distance between their mouths:   
  
“Why? Why do you worry so much about what other people want? Why can’t you just do what you…" his lips brushed over hers “…want?" He brought his mouth over hers but this time for a deeper kiss.   
  
She closed her eyes and savoured the kiss as if it was the last. God, she missed the taste of him, the feel of his chest against hers, the…   
  
Crack! The sound of footsteps on the top floor brought her back to reality.   
  
“No. I do what I want." She whispered, breaking the kiss and stepping away from him, the tears threatened to overflow. Silently she continued backing away from him, never breaking eye contact.   
  
Spike felt as if someone had just punched him in the gut and the pain was spreading straight to his throat, as he stood there watching her go.   
  
*************************************   
  
Buffy couldn’t stop tossing and turning in her bed. It was the third time that night she had woken up from the same dream. Sitting up between her sheets, cradling a pillow between her strong hands she recalled the gruesome details. Her face was bathed in blue moonlight as small beads of sweat ran down the sides of her checks.   
  
“Stupid dream!" She thought as flashes of Spike’s tortured body laying motionless on a ritual tomb assaulted her. A hooded figure buried its claws in vampire’s ivory chest. Buffy squeezed her eyes shut, whishing away the images of Spike’s heart being dug out and his body turning to dust.   
  
She laid back in bed, willing herself to sleep. But it was helpless; she had to go check on him.   
  
************************   
  
The wooden stairs screeched beneath her bare feet as she made her way to the living room. She squinted hard, her eyes still adjusting to the darkness around her.   
  
As the couch came into view her heart jumped. It was empty and the sheets were carelessly left on the floor. She desperately scanned the room for the missing vampire. A strange noise coming from the kitchen broke her moment of panic. Immediately the Slayer in her took over. She hid behind the wall that separated the hall from the living room, silently waiting for the intruder. As a tall figure walked into the room, Buffy lunged at it, both tumbling to the floor from the impact. They wrestled for a few instants, but having the element of surprise she easily overpowered him and ended up on top, straddling the stranger’s waist and pinning its arms over its head.   
  
“Where. Is. He?" Her tone was sharp and threatening. As each word came out of her mouth she tightened the grasp around his wrists.   
  
“Bloody hell, woman!" a familiar voice came from her opponent, who lay helpless under her. “What did I do now?"   
  
“Spike?" Buffy asked.   
  
Automatically she loosened her hold on him, but her arms remained resting over his wrists.   
  
“Who else would it be?" he spat out annoyed. “Have you lost your marbles for good this time?"   
  
“What are you doing up?" she tried to act casually as their compromising position dawned on her but, instead of standing up, she remained hovering over him. She missed the feel of him under her too much.   
  
“A bloke can’t even get a sweet tooth in the middle of the night without getting attacked."   
  
“I thought someone had broken in and taken you with them. And…" her voice trailed off as she didn’t know how to say the words without revealing her foolish worries over his well being.   
  
As he stared at her, he noticed a strange look in her eyes. Was that concern?   
  
“…and…" she repeated.   
  
“Bloody hell, Buffy, just say it. Tell me you were worried about me." Spike wished, but as the words formed in his mind he saw the change in her face. That change he had long become used to. The sudden cold indifference in her eyes told him the moment was lost.   
  
In a flash she was on her feet and the poisonous words coming from her mouth hurled towards him:   
  
“And I really don’t need to be worrying about the First Slayer coming to hunt me down. Once was enough."   
  
A dangerous melting pot of anger and hurt boiled in Spike’s chest as he stood up.   
  
“Right, we wouldn’t want that to happen, now would we?" he snapped, walking towards the sofa and throwing himself on it.   
  
“You just stay right here and don’t go anywhere. I don’t want to be… bothered in the middle of my beauty sleep." She spat out as she turned on her heels and started up the stairs.   
  
“Beauty sleep, that’s something you need… a lot!" he hissed in a low voice.   
  
Even though she was half way up the stairs, her Slayer senses easily picked up that last remark. She didn’t know why, but it brought a sudden bruising weight to her chest. “Does he think I’m ugly?" she thought as she cuddled herself between her sheets.   
  
*****************************   
  
  
  
Part IV - When Morning Comes   
  
Morning came early the next day. Buffy felt as if she had just fallen a sleep when she felt someone knocking at her door. She squinted as the soft morning sun brushed over her milky skin.   
  
“Who is it?" she asked, her voice hoarse and low.   
  
“It’s Willow." The young Wicca answered.   
  
Seconds latter Buffy saw the small red head peeking from behind the partially open door.   
  
“It’s around 8h30. I gotta get to campus, see if I can catch a few classes." She explained. “I’m dropping Dawn off at school. Thought I’d wake you, I know you’ve got a shift at the Doublemeat at 9."   
  
“Thanks Willow, but I called them last night and I got to change to the night shift again. You know, with the whole Spikesitting and all…" she sighed audibly, getting out of bed and putting on her robe.   
  
“Ok! Well, I’m off then." Willow smiled and hopped down the stairs as Buffy followed her. “Dawn, come on!" the redhead shouted towards the kitchen as she opened the door to the house.   
  
Soon after Buffy saw her young sister coming out of the kitchen with half a tuna sandwich clenched between her teeth, struggling to get her backpack on. Spike soon followed her with a brown paper bag in hand.   
  
“Now, I made you another spike-special for lunch, don’t forget to drink your milk." He ordered with a strange fatherly concern in his voice.   
  
“Yes, Mommy!" Dawn joked taking the bag from his hands and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Noticing her sister standing at the top of the stairs she shouted as she walked out of the house: “Hi, Buffy! Bye, Buffy!"   
  
The Slayer made her way downstairs and stood there staring at the now closed door.   
  
“Ouch! Beauty sleep doesn’t have much effect on Slayers, does it?" Spike lied. He was still hurt from last night’s argument; he felt the urge to at least annoy her.   
  
“Shut up, Spike!" she snapped making her way up the stairs again.   
  
“PMS is it?" he shouted after her.   
  
“SHUT UP!" she yelled back. Not bothering to turn to face him she jogged to the bathroom and locked herself there.   
  
After about an hour latter she came back down, finding Spike staring into the refrigerator.   
  
“I’m hungry, you don’t have blood here." He said matter-of-factly.   
  
“When I go to the Doublemeat we’ll stop by the butchers." Buffy proposed.   
  
“When’s that?" he asked still gazing at the fridge, its door wide open.   
  
“You know, that ruins the fridge. Close the door." She protested.   
  
“I’m hungry."   
  
“Yes, we’ve established that." She spoke as she pushed the door closed and moved so her body was between the refrigerator and him.   
  
She stared at him with wide innocent eyes. “Beauty sleep doesn’t work on Slayer, does it? Well, let’s see what good old Maybeline, D&B and a touch of Laura Biagiotti can do for me." She thought as she gave him her best “I’m an innocent little schoolgirl completely oblivious to just how yummy I’m right now" look.   
  
Spike caught his breath to prevent a gasp from escaping his partially open lips. “God woman, do you wanna kill me?" he pondered as he contemplated her.   
  
Her hair framed her milky face. He could tell she had makeup on, but it was very discreet one. Her lips had a pale shade of brown, which matched the earth colours over her eyes. There was no sight of the glossy and femme fatale look she used to put on. As his gaze drifted south, he saw she was wearing one of those little summer dresses with small, light yellow flowers scattered over a beige background. The soft cotton hovered just above her knees and over her left shoulder one of the straps that held it into place threatened to slide off. Spike felt tempted to slip it back in place but he resisted the urge. But the piece de résistance was her scent. It was a perfect mixture between her own aroma and a new fragrance. What was that? He couldn’t quite figure out what it was. He made a mental note to sneak into her room later and find out which new perfume she was wearing.   
  
“Spike, you’re staring." Buffy quipped innocently. “Guess I haven’t lost my touch after all. They always go for the shy schoolgirl."   
  
Spike immediately snapped out of his gawking bubble.   
  
“No. I’m just trying to figure out where that stench is coming from. Is that you?" Spike said casually as he walked towards the living room, leaving behind a very stunned Slayer picking up her jaw from the kitchen floor.   
  
“What do you mean stench?" she asked when she recovered from the ego blow and followed him.   
  
“That weird fruit salad smell." He continued sprawled on the sofa and reaching for the TV remote control.   
  
“Shows what you know. This is the new perfume by Lara Biagiotti." She spat as her arms folded over her chest and she tapped her foot on the floor.   
  
“Well, it reeks, luv!" he seemed more interested in watching a stupid hair shampoo commercial than have this conversation with her.   
  
Buffy sighed audibly as she walked out of the living room and went back upstairs. Immediately, when she was out of sight, Spike let out a long awaited gasp as he reached for his jeans and undid the first three buttons. A moan of relief escaped his lips as the pressure in his groin was considerably reduced.   
  
“I know little guy, but we can’t let her know she’s got us by the short hairs." He lightly padded his painfully engorged member and turned his attention back to the TV. Flipping through the channels he stopped when he heard Buffy’s approaching voice:   
  
“You know, you’re an idiot? I don’t why I even bother…" she halted when she entered the room. All she saw was Spike quickly reaching for a pillow and nervously covering his lap with it. She looked back at the TV set and immediately recognized Sharon Stone’s long legs crossing and uncrossing in front of a bunch of hormone driven police officers.   
  
Spike’s eyes followed her gaze and then came back to look at her. As the situation dawned on both of them the vampire stuttered as he tried to explain the controversial position he had been caught in.   
  
“No, no, this… this is not what you’re thinking." He stammered, his eyes nervously drifting from Buffy to the TV and back to her again.   
  
“Like Hell it isn’t!" she yelled as she took the wooden stake from her back pocket.   
  
“What are you doing, Slayer?" Spike shouted out of despair as he stumbled off the couch, the pillow still on his lap, his jeans threatening to slide down to his knees.   
  
Buffy didn’t say anything. Anger blinded her as she chased him around the sofa. She stumbled on the coffee table and that gave Spike just enough time to button up his jeans.   
  
“Buffy think about this for a second." Spike pleaded. She was extremely pissed.   
  
“No thinking. Staking, now!" she hissed between clenched teeth and lunged at him but missed by an inch.   
  
“Buffy, think about the First Slayer, you can’t kill me."   
  
“I am thinking about the First Slayer. I dust you and there’s no more “inhuman heart" for any ritual, no more problem."   
  
The chase spread to the other compartments of the household, as Spike leaped his way up the stairs. After two shattered vases, one broken door and a broken chair they ended up in Buffy’s room.   
  
“Luv, you don’t want to do this."   
  
“Oh yes I do. And don’t call me that." She hissed as she cornered him between a scorching sunray and the wall. Spike had no choice, if he couldn’t reason with her, he’d have to make her see that the motive she had to stake him was incredibly stupid.   
  
“Look, even if I was whacking off downstairs that’s no reason to stake me." He started. Then a grin spread over his lips as he realised the right thing to say to distract her from her goal. “You jealous?"   
  
Buffy stopped dead in her tracks, her stake resting on his chest.   
  
“Me, jealous?" she laughed forcibly, backing away from him and stashing her stake back in her pocket. “Of a forty year old woman on TV, I don’t think so."   
  
“So you’re just not jealous cause you don’t think she’s hot, but if she was you would be?"   
  
“Get this through you’re thick skull: I. Will. Never. Be jealous of any woman when it comes to you." She explained with a growing pleasure as she saw the hurt in his eyes.   
  
“Right. Got it." He tried to sound cool and calm but failed miserably at it.   
  
He made his way downstairs and she followed him a bit worried about having hurt his feelings.   
  
“Where are you going?" she asked haughtily.   
  
“None of your business, Slayer." He hissed as he reached for his blanket on the kitchen chair.   
  
“You can’t go out." She commanded as she put her body between him and the door.   
  
“And why is that? Afraid I turn to dust?" he asked angrily, but deep inside he hoped she’d say yes.   
  
“No! They might catch…" the nightmare she had had the night before flashed in front of her. She squeezed her eyes shut and gathered all her strength to sound as nonchalant about what she was going to say “and I’d have a very pissed First Slayer in my hands."   
  
He hissed as he tried to push her out of his way.   
  
“Don’t make me tie you up." She warned him. He made a move to leave once more and she had no choice but to punch him.   
  
He looked at her in disbelief. She could see the hurt in his eyes and that made her throat tighten so hard she found it hard to breathe.   
  
“Fine, have it your way." He snapped, walking back to the living room and taking his place on the couch.   
  
  
  
Part V - Open Wounds   
  
They walked silently all the way to the Doublemeat Palace. Spike hadn’t uttered a word since their previous fight and Buffy felt a little bit uneasy about it. In all their argueing and bickering it had never come to this uncomfortable stillness. Every time something was wrong they would just throw a few nasty remarks about each other and move on as if nothing had happen. She didn’t know why, but this time it was different.   
  
“Could you hurry up, please? I don’t wanna be late for work." Buffy asked nonchalantly.   
  
The only evidence she got that he had heard her was the quickening of his pace, nothing else. His eyes where still looking straight forward and his hands firmly placed inside his coat’s pockets.   
  
As they reached their destination Buffy turned to him and explained:   
  
"I don’t want people to think I’m bringing someone to work so I’ll go in through the employees entrance and you can just go through the main door as if you were a costumer, ok?"   
  
He nodded and headed towards the fast-food restaurant.   
  
***********************   
  
Hours had past. It was almost time to close up. Spike had spent the entire evening sitting at a table at the far end of the DP just looking at people passing by without even glancing in Buffy’s general direction.   
  
She sighed and took off the ridiculous hat as finished cleaning the grease off the counter.   
  
“Well, time to go!" she announced.   
  
Automatically, Spike stood up and walked towards the door, which Buffy held open for him. Once more in silence, they headed towards the cemetery for one quick patrol before finally going home.   
  
**********************************   
  
As she finished dusting a newborn vampire, Buffy looked in Spike’s direction to see how he was doing. To her surprise he was still fighting the same vampire he had been when she’d staked her first of the evening and that had been four vampires ago.  
  
She leaned on a near tombstone as she watched Spike literally get his ass kicked by a very inexperienced vampire. As the fight evolved Spike seemed to finally get the upper hand and she sighed in relief. The newborn lay on the ground as Spike hovered over him, stake in hand. The older vampire was about to dust the younger one when he felt the sharp end of a broken tree branch go though his chest.   
  
“SPIKE!" Buffy screamed running towards him. In seconds the newborn vampire was dust and the Slayer turned her attention to Spike who laid motionless on the ground next to her. “Oh my God are you ok?" she asked frantically running her hands across his face, shoulder, arms and then back to his face again. “Spike talk to me damn it!" she yelled, slapping him across the check.   
  
“I think… I’d… talk better if you…" he struggled to speak through the excruciating pain in his chest. “… took this… thing… out." He finally managed to say.   
  
“Oh! Yes, of course."   
  
Carefully avoiding his heart, she removed the wooden twig. She didn’t know what was more disturbing: the sight of the big whole in Spike’s chest or the agonizing and sharp howl he let out when she pressed over the wound with her hands.   
  
“Bloody hell woman! Are you trying to kill me?" he yelled in pain.   
  
“Well, you’re supposed to apply pressure over it or you’ll-“   
  
“Or I’ll wha? Bleed to death? I’m a bloody vampire, Slayer!" he shouted as he tried to sit leaning on a tree.   
  
“Oh! Right, you can’t bleed to death." She reminded herself.   
  
Spike hissed as he moved to a more comfortable position.   
  
“Are you ok?" she asked. Concern was evident in her tone.   
  
“I’m just right as rain!" he mocked sarcastically “I blood well am NOT alright." He shouted in anger.   
  
“Hey, no need to yell at me. It was you’re fault." She pointed out.   
  
Spike just sighed, he was too tired, too wounded, too everything to argue with her. Slowly he drifted to slumber.   
  
When he opened his eyes he was exactly in the same position and the same place he had been when he passed out. It was still dark but his vampire senses told him that daylight was close at hand. He had to get out of there immediately and sunlight wasn’t his only problem. He knew of plenty demons who would love to get their claws on the vampire who helps the Slayer. And speaking of the Slayer… she was nowhere in sight.   
  
“Figures. Not the first time she’s done it, not the last." Spike thought to himself as he remembered the night she had beaten him up and left him to rot in an abandoned alley.   
  
As he dwelled on his insane relationship with his former mortal enemy, he heard footsteps coming from behind and to his left. He tried to force himself up, but he was still very weak and couldn’t move and inch. All he could do was sit there and pray it wasn’t a demon.   
  
“There he is." The sound of the Slayer’s voice was like a wave of relief washing over him, but he decided to play it cool.   
  
“Spike, old pal."   
  
“Clem, wha are you doing here?" Spike asked surprised. He looked at the friendly demon and noticed he was carrying a strecher behind him.   
  
“Came to help. The Slayer here came by the bar asking for it. Man, you look like crap." Clem noted.   
  
As Spike absorbed the information he had just received, he felt the urge to smile at his saviour, but instead he looked at her and snarled sarcastically:   
  
“Slayer! Fancy seeing you here! Thought you’re MO was beat’em up, leave’em to rot." He gave her an evil grin and continued: “Oh! I forgot. You didn’t do the beating up part. Guess that means you don’t get to leave."   
  
Buffy tried to ignore the stinging in her chest caused by his venomous words as she took the stretcher from Clem’s hands.   
  
The moment he saw Buffy’s reaction to his words he regretted ever saying them. “Bollocks, why do I always have to have my foot in my bloody mouth?" he thought as Buffy and Clem helped him onto the stretcher.   
  
****************************   
  
“Oh my God, Buffy! What happen?" Dawn asked a little panicky as she saw an unconscious Spike laying on the living room couch.   
  
“He got staked." Buffy explained as she came back from the kitchen with a wet towel.   
  
She knelt down next to the semiconscious vampire and tried to carefully wash the wound.   
  
“Hey! Watch it, Slayer!" Spike hissed as he felt a throat clenching pain run through his entire body.   
  
“Sorry…" she apologized giving him a painful look as she continued cleaning the deep gash in his chest. “This might take a while to heal." She noted.   
  
“How did it happen?" Dawn inquired kneeling down next to her sister.   
  
“Spike here decided to be an idiot for a night and get staked." Buffy explained with an annoyed face.   
  
“I was just…" Spike started but was cut off by a suddenly very pissed Slayer.   
  
“What the Hell were you thinking?" she yelled, accidentally applying a little too much pressure as she got rapped up in her rambling. Spike cried out in pain but she didn’t even hear him. “Playing with a vampire like that? He might have been a new one but he could have – What could have possibly possessed you to do something so stupid? I’ve seen you do a lot of really dumb stuff, but this…" she stood up and started walking around the couch. Spike silently thanked the gods that she was at a safe distance from his aching chest. “…this-this just won a place in the Guinness Book of Records. You-you just stood there. You just—You could have—“ she stopped mid-sentence not wanting to admit her worries about his well being.   
  
She looked around the now empty room, somehow in the middle of her rambling Dawn had left the room and she was now alone with him. She squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered the tenth of a second when she thought he was gone for good. Suddenly her legs faltered and a tight knot formed at the base of her throat. She couldn’t breathe.   
  
“You ok, Slayer?" he asked concerned.   
  
“I’m fine." She answered opening her eyes to look at him. “Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again." And with that she left the room, behind her was a seriously confused vampire.   
  
  
  
Part VI - Healing Wounds   
  
She tossed and turned as the dream she had had the night before came to her once more. She knew it was a dream, but for some strange reason she couldn’t wake up. “Wake up, Buffy. It’s just a stupid dream." She told herself over and over again. She kept moving around on the bed, gripping her pillow tightly between her sweaty arms. Finally, after a while she jumped up and was able to wake up. She sat there, hyperventilating uncontrollably.   
  
“It’s just a dream." She repeated out loud.   
  
Knock, knock.   
  
“Who is it?" she asked wiping away the beads of sweat on her face with her blanket.   
  
“It’s me." Dawn’s familiar voice came from the other side of the door.   
  
“Come in."   
  
“Hey, you ok?" the young teenager enquired. “I heard something break."   
  
Buffy looked at the shattered glass on the floor next to her nightstand.   
  
“I knocked over the lamp during my sleep." She explained to her younger sister.   
  
“Bad dream, huh?" Dawn continued the conversation sitting on the bed.   
  
Buffy nodded. She was about to say something, but was interrupted by her door being abruptly opened.   
  
“Dawn’s missing! We’ve… Dawn, you’re here!" a very tired, weak and worried Spike clung to the doorknob for support and stared at the two Summers girls.   
  
“I heard a noise coming from Buffy’s room and came to check it out." Dawn clarified looking concerned at Spike’s clearly faltering legs.   
  
“You two are ok then?" he asked. Both girls nodded affirmatively. “Good! Then I can pass out." Spike sighed as he dropped to the floor with a thud.   
  
*******************************   
  
As conciousness came, so did a series of sensory stabbings. The most painful was the sting in his chest, closely followed by the frightening feeling of helplessness. Hunger was another issue that dawned on him. But in the mixture of nausea, pain and discomfort his nervous system alerted him to something else. That smell, that faint pure scent of the Slayer masked by the artificial, but delicate aroma of tropical fruits. God, he love that! He desperately tried to open his eyes and after a while he was able to do so.   
  
“No! Keep the curtains closed or tomorrow morning I’ll have a pile of dust on my bed instead of Spike."   
  
The vampire squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, trying to focus on the two figures standing next to the window. He moaned a little when he attempted to sit up. Immediately, he felt a strong hand push him back down.   
  
“Don’t get up, I don’t want you bleeding all over my new sheets." Buffy protested, but he could tell she was a bit concerned.   
  
Reluctantly he obeyed. With a hoarse voice he murmured:   
  
"I’m hungry."   
  
He didn’t have to wait two seconds; Buffy was already holding a mug up to his cold lips. He could smell the microwave-heated pig’s blood. He was so tired and hungry he didn’t even have the strength in him to make some smug remark about it. He just drank the whole cup.   
  
“Better?" she asked with a sweet tone. A very strange tone for the old vampire, it caused butterflies in his stomach.   
  
“He better be ok or I won’t have anyone to make me a Special-Spike for lunch tomorrow." Dawn joked as she walked from the window to the side of the bed, opposite to where Buffy was.   
  
Spike smiled.   
  
“Is he ok now?" a very sleepy Willow asked walking into the room rubbing her left eye. She sat down next to Dawn on the bed.   
  
“Oh, so that’s what a fellow’s gotta… cough… do to have three lovely ladies around him. I gotta… cough… get stabbed more often." Spike joked with a silly grin on his lips.   
  
“Don’t even joke about it." Willow reprehended him with a slap on his leg.   
  
Spike immediately hissed in false pain.   
  
“Oh, I’m sorry." A very worried Wicca apologized.   
  
“Just kidding!" the vampire gagged as his crunched face turned into a grinning one.   
  
“You… you… faker!" she complained.   
  
“Come on, you guys. He’s got to rest. And the two of you’ve got classes tomorrow morning." Buffy interrupted, standing up from the bed and leading the two sleepy girls out of the room.   
  
“Yes, mommy!" the two mocked in unison.   
  
As they left the room, Buffy went back to get the cup she had conveniently forgotten by her nightstand. She also picked up a strange device which looked a lot like a walkie-talkie.   
  
"If you need anything, just call me. I’ll hear you through this." And she pointed to the device, then she turned back to leave.   
  
“What? You’re not sleeping with me?" Spike asked innocently.   
  
“Don’t push you’re luck, Spike!" she warned him with a slight smile. “Goodnight!"   
  
“I don’t even get a goodnight kiss?" he continued, curling his lower lip into the cutest pout.   
  
“No." she answered promptly, the smile on her face grew clearly. “Goodnight."   
  
“Kiss." The pout still there.   
  
“No."   
  
“Pleaaaaaase. Kiss."   
  
“No."   
  
“Come on I almost got stake tonight." He argued.   
  
“No." she refused to grant him his wish.   
  
“You know you want to." Suddenly his tone wasn’t childish or playful anymore.   
  
“I do not!" she denied. Her heart started racing. “Oh, please don’t look at me like that." She begged him in her thoughts.   
  
“You don’t know or you don’t want to?" he enquired, his eyes burning into hers. Buffy just stared back and then he added with a soft tone: “If you didn’t want to, you’d have left by now."   
  
They gazed at each other in silence. And then she did something that even caught herself off guard. She leaned in and let her lips brush over his. Spike didn’t dare move. He waited for her to deepen the kiss, but she didn’t. Slowly she pulled away, smiled and began walking away.   
  
“Buffy…" he started to speak, but she cut him off without even turning to face him.   
  
“Goodnight, Spike!" was the last thing he heard from her as she closed the door behind her.   
  
The vampire sighed as he laid back down on the bed: “Man, I gotta get stabbed more often." He said to himself.   
  
On the other side of the entrance to her room, Buffy leaned on the wooden door trying very hard to stop her heart from jumping out of her chest. “God, why do you always have to make me feel like a giddy little schoolgirl with a crush."   
  
*******************************   
  
The next day, Spike woke up with a slight knock on the door.   
  
“Spike, you up?" Dawn’s soft voice came from the corridor.   
  
“I am now." He answered, not bothering to open his eyes and look at the young girl who came in.   
  
“Are you feeling any better?"   
  
With some effort he forced his eyelids to rise and focused his sight on the small figure standing at the foot of the bed. The room was dark and the only light that came in was through the door left open and a small line of sunlight that came from under the opaque curtains.   
  
“Yeah, I think I’ll be up and running in a day or two." He said hopefully.   
  
“Good, that means tomorrow I won’t have to eat Buffy’s version of a healthy lunch. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister, but she really sucks when it comes to cooking." Dawn complained as she sat down on the bed.   
  
“I heard that." Buffy’s voice came from the corridor and soon she was standing on the doorway holding a brown paper bag. “Tofu is a very nutritious food and you will eat it all up, young lady. Now hurry, Willow’s waiting downstairs."   
  
Grudgingly Dawn jumped off the bed and started walking out of the room.   
  
“Na-na-na. Aren’t we forgetting something?" Buffy asked.   
  
“Goodbye?"   
  
Buffy moved her head from side to side.   
  
“See you latter?" Dawn pretended not to know what her sister was referring to, but when Buffy held up the brown paper bag she had no excuse. Unwillingly, she took the bag from the Slayer’s hand. “Bye, Spike! I’ll see you after classes. Please be a good vampire and get those superhuman healing powers to work their charm." She walked out and started down the corridor. She opened the bag and peeked inside and couldn’t help but shout back: “Quickly!!"   
  
In Buffy’s room Spike choked back the powerful laugh.   
  
“Hey, don’t encourage her." Buffy warned.   
  
“Wha?" he enquired innocently, watching her move closer to him. She handed him a mug full of blood.   
  
“Shut up and drink!" she ordered shoving the cup to him.   
  
“So what’s today’s agenda." Spike asked as he drank the whole mug.   
  
“No plan. You stay in bed, I clean the house." Buffy explained taking the cup from the vampire and making her way out of the room.   
  
“You’re gonna leave me here alone all day." He mopped.   
  
“What, little Spikie-Wikie afraid of being alone all day?" she mocked him. “Afraid the Big Bad is going to get him?"   
  
“Hey, I AM the Big Bad." He explained with a smug look on his face.   
  
“Spike, you haven’t been the Big Bad in a long time." She continued the mockery.   
  
“Really? That didn’t seem to be your opinion when we played Big Bad Wo-“   
  
“Don’t even mention that. You bring that up once more and-“ she threatened.   
  
“Ashamed of what you like to play?" he asked, it was his turn to tease her."   
  
“Liked. You seem to have a big problem with the pass tense, don’t you?" she hissed a little bit annoyed.   
  
“I call ‘em as I see ‘em." He sneered.   
  
“Get some glasses, Spike. There is nothing here to see."   
  
“That’s true, can’t say there is much I haven’t seen." He continued to successfully annoy her.   
  
“God, you can be so insuperable sometimes." She sighed angrily.   
  
“Uh, learned a new word today, have we?"   
  
“I give up." She raised her tone, setting the mug down on the nightstand with a noisy thud. “There is no way we could ever get along. You always find a way to screw things up. You-you… Forget it." She waved her hands in the air and left the room.   
  
“Buffy!" he yelled after her. He tried to get up but the pain in his chest wouldn’t let him move. “Buffy!" he shouted once more. This time the effort to call her made him start coughing uncontrollably.   
  
From the corridor she heard him. A worrying pain in her torso immediately replaced her anger and in a second she was sitting next to him patting him on the back.   
  
“I-“ cough “I-I" cough.   
  
“Shh… Don’t try to talk. For once do what I tell you and shut up."   
  
He stopped trying to speak and gradually the coughing subsided.   
  
“I didn’t mean-“ he started explaining but was cut off by Buffy’s cold and distant tone.   
  
“Forget it." She made a move to stand up but, before she could move more that an inch, he had a tight grip on her forearm.   
  
“Why do you always do this?" he asked with all the calm he could muster.   
  
“Do what? What did I do now?" she cried out. Her anger and annoyance were palpable in the air.   
  
“Why do you always have to hide? Whenever there is a problem that is not flesh and demon smear you just ignore it." He continued making his point.   
  
“I-“   
  
“Stop doing this. Stop pushing everyone away and pretend everything is fine, when I know there is so much that is eating you up inside. Just-“   
  
“WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" she yelled, pulling her arm out of his grip and standing.   
  
“I WANT YOU TO TELL ME WHAT’S WRONG!" he shouted back at her. As he realised what he had just done, he paused, took a deep breath and started to explain once more: “I want you to be able to tell me what’s wrong."   
  
She looked at him, eyes filled with bitter tears that threatened to overflow. Buffy tried to speak but the words got caught in her throat. She closed her mouth, pushed her dry lips together and swallowed hard before she was finally able to utter painfully:  
  
“I can’t."   
  
“Why?" he questioned quietly. When she didn’t answer he dared to add: “What happen to us? When you came back we… we were…" he paused, forced the fear and hesitation in his chest to settle and finished: “we were almost friends."   
  
“You and I are NOT friends." She started slowly as she remembered what he had told her years ago in the shop that was to later become Giles’ Magic Shop and unknowingly she rephrased it: “We’ll never BE friends." She looked at him for a while. It was clear he didn’t recall that conversation. All he read from her words was: “You are not good enough to be my friend." Maybe it was better that way.   
  
  
  
Part VII - Dungherjahar Ashesh   
  
Willow turned the key and walked into the apparently empty house.   
  
“Buffy!" she called out, throwing her backpack on the couch. “Buffy!" when she was about to shout once more, she heard a noise coming from the basement, closely followed by the door opening.   
  
“Hey!" a very tired Slayer holding a feather duster in her right hand appeared .   
  
“Whatcha you doing?"   
  
“Cleaning." She answered throwing her exhausted body on the living room couch.   
  
“Why the sudden cleaning bug?" the Wicca continued asking, sitting down next to her friend.   
  
“Boredom mostly. I don’t think I’ve ever been stuck alone in this house for so many straight hours. It gets really dull very quickly."   
  
“Alone? Where did Spike go?" Willow asked surprised.   
  
“He’s upstairs."   
  
Willow look at her inquiringly.   
  
“Don’t ask." Buffy dogged her friend’s curious eyes and changed the subject: “So, you got anything new on little ET?"   
  
“Nop. Not yet. Tara is coming over later to do some research with me. We’re going to work on translating the rest of the passage about the ritual." Willow’s face immediately lit up when she mentioned Tara’s name.   
  
Buffy smiled sweetly at her friend and asked:   
  
“How are you guys doing?"   
  
“Better." Was the single answer Buffy got, but she could tell that things were going very well by the blush that quickly sneaked up Willow’s pale checks.   
  
“Well, I’m going upstairs, take a long relaxing bath and lay down for a while. Let me know if you guys find out anything new?"   
  
Willow nodded, watching her friend slowly climb up the stairs.   
  
****************************   
  
Lazily, the Slayer let the warm water surround her aching body. She closed her eyes and relished in the balmy feeling that seeped inside her through every pore of her soft skin. Her mind swayed between reality and the limbo of sweet unconsciousness. The moment of bliss didn’t last for very long. A knock on the door forced her to open her heavy eyelids.   
  
“What?" she sighed annoyed.   
  
“Uhm-Buffy?" Tara’s faltering voice came from the other side of the door. “You better come out here."   
  
“Hum." She moaned, “I’m coming." She rouse from the tub reluctantly and wrapped a towel around her wet body.   
  
“Buffy! Hurry up." Willow’s very disturbed voice demanded.   
  
“What?" Buffy hissed opening the door abruptly.   
  
It wasn’t necessary for Willow to explain anything. In her hands the Wicca held the book the strange creature had tried to steal a few nights back. A powerful and pulsating red light emanated from it.   
  
“What happen to it?" the Slayer inquired.   
  
“We think someone used a locating spell on it." Willow explained. When she noticed the frown on her friend’s face she continued: “Someone used a spell to find this book. It’s now sending a signal to whoever performed the enchantment."   
  
“Huh? You can do that?" Buffy asked.   
  
“Yes. If-if you have a strong connection to a certain object you can." Tara stuttered nervously.   
  
“You mean to tell me that whoever did this spell can now find this-“ Buffy was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass coming from her room. “Spike!"   
  
In seconds Buffy was in front of the door that led to her room. As she opened it she saw Spike’s motionless body laying on the floor. She ran to him, but the moment she set foot inside her room everything went blank. Suddenly she was hovering in blackness. She knew her eyes were open but she couldn’t see anything. She waved her arms and leg around trying to reach for something solid. There was nothing there to touch. Her heart raced as the darkness that surrounded her seemed to take over her state of mind. After a few moments panic settled in her chest and all she could do was scream. As she opened her mouth and forced the air out of her lungs she was surprised to find there was no sound coming from her throat. “What is this?" she questioned herself, she couldn’t stop thinking: “Does this have anything to do with the Gentlemen?". She was about to continue her line of thought when she slowly felt the familiar sensation of being sprawled on a hard surface. Slowly she realised her eyes were closed. “Ah! Just another dream!" she concluded, but when she forced her eyelids to open she saw she was laying on the floor and right in front on her lay Willow’s unconscious body. Sluggishly, she sat up and inspected the room, realising it was her bedroom. Behind Willow rested Tara, her body curled up into a little ball.   
  
“Spike!" she whispered desperately scanning the room for the old vampire. To her relief, she found him laying on the floor, on the other side of the bed. She knelt down next to him, carefully holding the towel around her body and stretched out her arm shaking him into awareness.   
  
“Hum?" he moaned opening his eyes. “Wha happen?"   
  
“You ok?" she asked worried.   
  
He nodded. From behind her, Buffy heard Willow and Tara stir. The Wiccas looked at each other and were relieved to find that nothing had happen to either of them.   
  
“Buffy." The Slayer turned to see Tara’s worried expression looking back at her. “The book… it’s gone."   
  
****************************   
  
Everyone sat around the dinning room table in silence. Xander was the first to dare say something:   
  
“What do we do now?"   
  
After a pause Willow exposed her idea:   
  
“This… thing didn’t know how to perform the ritual, that’s why it needed the book. That was clear to all of us. What Tara and I think is that it didn’t even know it needed the…" she paused giving Spike a quick glance and then continuing: “inhuman heart. I guess that’s why it never came for Spike."   
  
“So now that it’s got the book how long till it figure Spike’s his…" Dawn paused in a very similar way that Willow had just done. “Spike’s it?"   
  
“We don’t know." Tara started. “From what we translated, it needs something other than… Spike. It needs the…" she stopped to check the sheets of paper she held and read: “Dunghe-dunghejar Ashesh, the Dungherjar Ashesh. Sorry, ha-hard to pronounce."   
  
“Well, where’s this Dungie thingy and how do I get my hands on it." Buffy asked matter-of-factly.   
  
“The problem is we don’t know what it is. We have to go to the Magic Shop and research it." Willow explained.   
  
“What are we waiting for? Let’s get cracking."   
  
They all stood up, including Dawn. Buffy gave her a look and shook her head.   
  
“Please, Buffy. I wanna help." The younger Summers girl pleaded.   
  
Buffy thought for a while and realised that it was time to include her kid sister, plus she would probably be safer in the Magic Shop where she could keep an eye on the teenager, than alone at home.   
  
********************************   
  
They had been sitting around the table, cover to their necks in thick, heavy, smelly books for hours now.   
  
“I give up." Spike sighed dropping the book he was reading on the table.   
  
“I wish Anya was here. She’d probably know what this Dungher is." Willow moaned.   
  
“Wish granted." The ex-demon’s familiar voice came from the door that led to the training room.   
  
“Anya!" Xander exclaimed surprised to see his ex-bride.   
  
“Willow, can you tell this… thing I am not talking to it EVER again." Anya said in a cold and distant tone, her chin high in the air as she turned away from Xander.   
  
“Anya, we-“   
  
“Willow, tell it!" Anya repeated.   
  
“Anya?" Willow whispered. She really didn’t want to get in the middle of this.   
  
“Tell it!"   
  
Willow sighed: “Xander, Anya isn’t talking to you ever again."   
  
“But, An-“ Xander started to protest, but Anya cut him off, holding up her hand to his face and walking towards the table.   
  
“What’s the problem?" she ignored Xander’s pleas and spoke calmly.   
  
Xander was going to start talking but now it was Buffy’s turn to cut him off:   
  
“What’s the Dungher-“ she looked at the piece of paper that had something scribbled in it with Willow penmanship: “Dungherjar Ashesh."   
  
“Dungherjahar Ashesh." Anya corrected.   
  
“You know what it is?" Tara asked.   
  
“It’s a powerful dagger used to kill the Lord of the Cimbels." She walked behind the counter, opened the cash register and took out a small key.   
  
All eyes in the room were on her when she moved towards a small wooden cupboard and unlocked it. Inside were three books that were three times as thick as the ones that were now abandoned on the table. With a lot of effort she tried to pick one of the books up, but it was too heavy and she would have fallen if it hadn’t been for Xander helping her. He gave her a soft smile which made Anya’s ex-demon heart boil in anger, so she simply let go of the book. Under the unexpected burden Xander lost balance and fell to the floor with the book crushing his chest.   
  
“Can’t breathe… oxygen." Xander breathed forcefully.   
  
Anya stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, enjoying the view as Dawn and Buffy immediately came to his rescue. Buffy easily managed to pick the book up and drop it on the table.   
  
“So what does this baby have?" the Slayer asked, happy to see that everything was falling into place. Even though the chill that froze her stomach told her this story was about to get ugly, she’d rather know what she was facing then live in ignorance of it.   
  
Anya gave Xander another cold look before she turned towards Buffy and started looking though the giant book. They all stood there in silence watching the shopkeeper go through the eggshell coloured pages.   
  
“Here it is. She finally spoke, pointing to a black and white drawing of an old man. It was a normal man but there was something wrong with his eyes. They were entirely black; they had no whites like a normal person. “That’s Aronh, Lord of the Climes."   
  
“So who was this demon?" Buffy asked impatiently.   
  
“Oh, he was no demon, he was very human alright." Anya clarified. “Story goes he was the most powerful sorcerer that ever lived. Really big on black magic, hence the black eyes. To make a long story short: lived five thousand years ago, very powerful, wanted to rule the world, unleashed a plague on humanity, diseases, famine, death, yada, yada, yada, humans got together, humans killed him with the Dungherjahar Ashesh, which in Sumerian means Will of the Gods."   
  
Everyone stared at her.   
  
“Let me guess, this Aronh guys had followers, right?" Buffy deduced. When Anya nodded, she sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. “The Climes?"   
  
“Bingo. They vowed to bring him back even if it took them a thousand years to do it. For that they would need the same weapon that destroyed him."   
  
“Guess they are running about four thousand years late." Spike groaned. “Persistent little buggers, aren’t they?"   
  
“This is no time for jokes, Spike." Buffy warned. “What does Aronh have to do with the First Slayer?"   
  
“The First Slayer?" Anya repeated.   
  
“Yeah. Buffy stumbled into a Khind’Ara that was trying to steal this book…"   
  
As Willow told Anya the long story, Buffy fixed her eyes on the old man sketched on the worn out page. It wore a long, dark, hooded robe, which covered every inch of him except for half of his face.   
  
“So now we were looking for the dagger." Willow finished.   
  
“Summon the First Slayer? Are you sure?" Anya asked. “Sometimes Djaklan is kinda tricky to translate."   
  
“Yep. That’s the one thing I’m sure of in the entire passage." Willow assured.   
  
“Maybe it has to do with the power associated with the Slayer." Xander offered.   
  
“Well, whatever this thing has to do with the First Slayer, it needs the dagger to perform the ritual. Guess we have to get our hands on that thing before anyone else does." Buffy affirmed. Turning to Tara and Willow she continued: “You guys search the net and see if you can locate the dagger. Anya, we are going to need your connections with the dealers of magic merchandise."   
  
The ex-demon nodded, headed towards the telephone and picked it up.   
  
“The rest of us, guess we have to search for a connection between this Aronh and the First Slayer. So noses in the books please." Buffy directed.   
  
Everyone sighed in unison except for Dawn. She was always willing to participate in the Scooby Gang research parties.   
  
  
  
Part VIII - Fitting in the pieces   
  
Buffy looked through the gruelling drawings that illustrated Aronh’s actions in his time. Sketches of people dying of the most agonizing diseases, others being dismembered and decapitated, but the one that stood out the most was the image of a pyramid of skulls built in the honour of the sorcerer. From what was described in between the terrorizing drawings, Aronh had been considered a god by the tribe of the Climes, who carried out his dirty work.   
  
“Got it!" Anya said triumphantly as she hung up the phone. “The dealer that has the dagger is sending it in as fast as he can. Should be here in tomorrow."   
  
“Great work, Anya! Now we-“ Buffy stopped talking when she saw Spike bringing his index finger to his mouth, signalling her to shut up. Slowly he stood up and rounded the table, going behind the stacks. A mild struggle was heard and instants later Spike reappeared holding the Khind’Ara by its neck.   
  
“Oh-oh!" the slimy creature uttered with its high-pitched voice, then it gave them the same ridiculous smile it had given Buffy the night they’d first met. “Hello!"   
  
“It was listening to us the whole time." Xander concluded.   
  
“No kidding Boy Genius!" Spike mocked “Good thing it smells, easy to detect." As he spoke a drop of the demon’s slime fell from its head onto Spike’s precious duster. “Oh, bloody hell, there goes my duster!" he protested. “Watch where you drop your goo, pal!"   
  
“Sorry!" the creature apologized with a forced grin.   
  
“How does it eat? It doesn’t have any teeth." Dawn wondered out loud.   
  
Buffy frowned at her sister and looked at Spike:   
  
“Oh great! You got its goo on you, perfect!" she noticed.   
  
“Buffy, don’t worry it only affects humans. Spike’ll be ok." Willow quickly explained.   
  
The Slayer huffed and turned her attention to the demon, which hung by its neck in Spike’s hand.   
  
“You, start talking." She ordered.   
  
“Me. No. Talk. Anything!" it pressed its lips together and crossed his long arms over its bony chest in a sign of protest. “You torture. Me no speak."   
  
It took Buffy only one step towards the creature to make its façade of bravery crumble. In less then a tenth of a second it was screaming:   
  
“No, no, no. No torture. Me talk. Pleeeeeeeease no torture."   
  
“Not very brave is it?" Xander observed with a smirk.   
  
“I guess we finally found something more spineless that you, Harris!" Spike ridiculed.   
  
“Hey!" Xander resented the statement.   
  
“Guys!" Willow intervened.   
  
Buffy crouched in front of the demon, carefully avoiding getting any of its slime on her.   
  
“Who’s your master?"   
  
The creature looked up at Spike and then back to the Slayer.   
  
“Me no know…" it squealed.   
  
Buffy took a stake from her back pocket and the creature immediately started crying out:   
  
“Me no know! Master is smoke."   
  
“What do you mean your master is smoke?" Buffy asked, she was starting to loose her patience.   
  
“Master is smoke. When Master is, is all black. Master go puff, no more black." It spoke quickly and nervously.   
  
“Ok, anybody get that? Cause I think I misplaced my ET lingo to normal speech filter." Buffy gave up, standing and walking towards the table.   
  
“I-I think what it’s saying is that when it’s Master is with him everything goes black. Com-complete darkness. The absence on light, matter, form…" Tara tried to explain. “His Master is Aronh!"   
  
“That can’t be. I thought the guy was dead." Xander started protesting.   
  
“Xander, this is Sunnydale. Being dead is not an obstacle, I should know." Buffy argued.   
  
“Tara is right. I read about this when I was researching about resurrecting t-“ she stopped herself and looked at Buffy for a second. The Wicca’s eyes started to well up with tears, but the Slayer’s understanding smile calmed her and she was able to finish: “the dead. If something happens when you’re… bringing them back…" she swallowed hard and continued: “they can get stuck in a torn space between reality and… the other world. You get trapped in nothingness, in limbo. Someone must had tried to bring Aronh back but failed, probably cause they didn’t have the dagger. Now, Aronh must be, somehow, crossing reality with limbo. That’s what happen to us back in your room Buffy. That’s how he got the book. But he probably can only do that for a few seconds. His soul is trapped in that darkness, he doesn’t have form. The ritual will probably enable him to take form."   
  
“But what does taking form have to do with the First Slayer?" Dawn finally spoke.   
  
“That thing has a soul?" Buffy seemed to be stuck on the idea that a creature that caused so much destruction could never have a soul.   
  
“Of course. He was human, Buffy." Anya reminded her.   
  
“Just hard to keep that in mind when you read through this book." She explained pointing to the large book on the table.   
  
“Wha, Slayer, still think that demons are the only real bad guys in this picture?" Spike asked “Humans can be just as bad, soul or no soul."   
  
Buffy dropped her gaze to the floor, she couldn’t face the vampire’s accusing eyes. The tension between the two of them was obvious to everyone in the room except for the little demon that was still hanging from Spike’s hand.   
  
“Me go?" it pleaded.   
  
“No!" everyone answered in unison.   
  
“Sorry!" it squealed.   
  
“What are we supposed to do know, Buffy?" Willow asked.   
  
“We stay here and research until we get our hands on the dagger, then we see what we do next." Buffy explained.   
  
“No, I meant about little ET over there." The Wicca rephrased pointing to the Khind’Ara demon.   
  
“Yeah, I’m getting kinda tired of holding it." Spike protested.   
  
“We’ll use the chains in the training room." Buffy offered.   
  
*******************************************   
  
“Oh! Look how cute it is." Dawn remarked looking at the strange demon.   
  
It was sitting on the floor, its scrawny legs crossed as well as its arms. From its wrist a heavy metal shackle dangled and chained the creature to the stairs that lead to the top floor of the Magic Shop. It stared at the ceiling with huge gawking eyes.   
  
“It is sweet." Willow agreed putting down the book she was researching for a second, to look at the demon who was now feverously scratching its chained wrist.   
  
In the meantime, Spike leaned over the counter of the shop and absentmindedly turned the pages of a dusty old book.   
  
“Hey there." Buffy greeted approaching the vampire.   
  
Spike nodded, his eyes never leaving the book.   
  
“You ok?" Buffy asked “The wound, I mean." She added lightly tapping her own chest on the spot where his injury was.   
  
Another nod. Awkward silence feel around them and Buffy searched her mind for a topic of conversation.   
  
“You never told me what happen in my bedroom."   
  
“What do you mean?" he continued to turn the pages and it started to annoy her a lot.   
  
“When I came to the bedroom, before the whole blackness, absence of form thingy started you where on the floor." She remembered.   
  
“I was?" he asked and for the first time in that conversation he looked at her. “All I remember is one moment I am sound asleep on the bed, the next everything goes pitch black and then I’m on the floor with you calling me." He explained and returned to the book.   
  
“Oh!" Buffy tried to fill in the silence. “So, whatcha doing?"   
  
Spike raised his eyebrow at her.   
  
“Reading." He said matter-of-factly.   
  
“Oh! Good." She continued, leaning on the counter next to him. “Found anything?"   
  
“No." he answered.   
  
“Hum."   
  
“Do you need something?" he finally asked.   
  
“No, just making conversation." She replied.   
  
“I noticed. Why?"   
  
“Do I need a reason?" she questioned.   
  
“Lately? Yeah." He answered going back to the book.   
  
“Fine! I was just trying to be nice."   
  
“You? Nice? To me? Since when?" he spoke with an accusing tone.   
  
She stared at him without an answer to his question. They looked at each other for what seemed like eternity. Her heart raced as her mind desperately searched for a way out of that uncomfortable moment. Dawn gave her that chance when she spoke:   
  
“We should give him a name."   
  
Buffy immediately went into Slayer/Overprotective parent mode. “It’s not a pet, Dawn. It’s a demon and we are not naming it." She demanded quickly walking away from the vampire and over to her sister.   
  
Dawn pouted crossing her arms. Tara smiled, leaned towards the young teenager and suggested: “What about calling it It?"   
  
Dawn’s face immediately lit up at the Wicca’s words.   
  
“Where are Anya and Xander?" Buffy asked.   
  
“I don’t know, we can’t hear the shouting and yelling anymore, maybe they’ve made up." Willow offered.   
  
“YOU LEFT ME STANDING THERE!!!!" Anya’s angry voice came from the training room.   
  
“Or maybe not." Willow sighed.   
  
**********************************************   
  
“An, I’ve already told you. I’m sorry! I was just scared, everything was going so fast." Xander tried to explain, but the ex-demon wouldn’t have it, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back to him. “An, please say something."   
  
“I hate you." She hissed.   
  
“Something other than that."   
  
“I despise you."   
  
Xander sighed. At least she was talking to him. He was about to continue his pleas when the back door of the Magic Shop fell open. Three hooded figures came in.   
  
“Hey, you’re going to pay for that." Anya protested and walked after the strangers who ignored her and headed towards the main room of the shop, where the other Scobbies were. “Did you hear wh-“ she choked as the last of the hooded figures picked her off the floor by her neck.   
  
“Anya!" Xander shouted, lunging at the figure that held the ex-demon.   
  
The stranger let go of Anya and focused on the human that was now clinging to him and trying to strangle him. Effortlessly he got Xander off him by throwing him across the room. Xander fell to the floor with a loud thud and hit his head on the wall.   
  
“Xander!" Anya yelled as she crawled her way to the unconscious young man.   
  
The hooded figures ignored the wounded couple and continued towards the other room.   
  
***************************   
  
“What was that?" Buffy asked.   
  
“Xander!" Willow replied standing up and walking towards the training room.   
  
She was barred by the three tall, hooded figures.   
  
“Where is it?" one of them inquired.   
  
“Who are you?" Willow asked.   
  
With a swift move of his arm the stranger flung the witch across the room, just as he had done with Xander.   
  
“Willow!" Tara went to her aid, kneeling next to the red headed girl.   
  
“I’m ok!" Willow assured.   
  
“Dawn, under the table." Buffy order, her eyes fixed on the strangers. As she tried to look at their faces she found them covered by masks. They were completely black except for a strange white symbol that was carved just above the two eyeholes.   
  
At the sight of the three hooded figures the Khind’Ara demon squeaked, curling up into a little ball.   
  
“Tell us where the heart is." one of them spoke in a low voice.   
  
Buffy’s heart was racing as her body prepare for a confrontation.   
  
“I have a better idea." She replied calmly moving towards them. “How about I just kick your asses."   
  
“The heart, Slayer!" the taller one order. Buffy was about to lunge at them when suddenly a bright red light surrounded them, grew in intensity and when it dimmed the three strangers had disappeared.   
  
“What was that?" Dawn asked from under the table.   
  
“Xander! Anya!" Willow reminded them.   
  
Buffy quickly made her way to the training room to find Anya on her knees holding Xander’s head on her lap.   
  
“Xander?" Buffy called.   
  
When she came closer she found him unconscious. Anya looked up at the Slayer; her eyes bright and glassy with tears. Without a word she moved her hand from under Xander’s head and Buffy saw red blood dripping from her long fingers.   
  
“Willow, call an ambulance." Buffy shouted.   
  
  
  
Part IX - Spike-Specials   
  
Anya paced around the hospital lounge rubbing her sweaty hands together. She was startled when Willow came from behind and lightly caressed her shoulder.   
  
“Don’t worry, everything’s going to be ok." The Wicca assured. She never knew what to say in these situations, so she resorted to the stereotypic response.   
  
Anya looked at her wide-eyed. She choked back the tears as she tried to speak. Willow padded her on the back and brought her arms around the ex-demon, holding her until the sobbing subsided.   
  
From the long green hall came a man dressed in what looked like green pyjamas with a stethoscope around his neck. Anya immediately ran to him, assaulting him with an avalanche of questions and sobs.   
  
The man smiled sweetly. “Don’t’ worry, Mr. Harris will be fine. He suffered a minor concussion, other than that his CAT scan’s normal. He’s conscious now and seems completely aware of his surrounding, which is always a good sign. He’ll have to stay the night and probably tomorrow too, just to be sure."   
  
“He’s ok? Are you sure?" Anya asked in disbelief. As the doctor nodded she flung her arms around the man’s neck and started giving him light pecks on each check. “Thank you, thank you so much. Can I see him?"   
  
“Sure."   
  
The doctor entered the room followed by Anya and the rest of the gang. She brought her hand to her mouth at the sight of Xander laying on the bed. He had an IV stuck in her right arm and a bandage around his head.   
  
“Mr. Harris, there is someone here to see you." The doctor announced.   
  
Xander slowly opened his eyes and looked up at a flushed and teary Anya smiling down on him.   
  
“Hey." He struggled to speak.   
  
“Hey." She could hardly get the words out as she tried to fight back the tears.   
  
Xander smiled tenderly and looked behind her to see the whole gang.   
  
“Hi, guys!"   
  
“Hey!" they all greeted him.   
  
“You gave us all quite a scare there!" Willow whispered coming closer to the bed.   
  
“Next time, let me handle the bad guys, huh?" Buffy joked.   
  
Xander laughed but soon regretted it as throbbing pain took over his head.   
  
“Now you see what I have to suffer with this damned chip in my bloody head!" Spike teased playfully.   
  
“Spike? What are you doing here?" he asked surprised, but deep inside he was sort of happy to see the vampire there.   
  
“They forced me to be here. I didn’t really care." Spike lied badly.   
  
“Sure." Xander smiled.   
  
“You feeling ok?" Spike asked, a serious tone taking over.   
  
Xander simply nodded.   
  
“Doctor says you’ll be back on your feet in no time. You’re not getting off research duty that easily." Willow spoke softly, holding Tara’s hand.   
  
“Thanks, you guys. For being here." Xander paused and then remembered. “What about ET?"   
  
“We named it It. Isn’t it cool!" Dawn finally spoke. “We left Clem babysitting him, plus Tara did this captivity spell on him. He can’t move more that 10 feet in any direction. It’s pretty cool, you should see the little guy walking round and round in circles. He-“ Dawn was forced to shut up when Buffy put her hand over her mouth.   
  
“We’ll leave now. We’ll be outside if you need anything." Buffy explained dragging her sister with her. The rest of the gang quickly followed leaving Anya and Xander alone in the room.   
  
“Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again." Anya started.   
  
“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t let them-“   
  
She pressed her fingers over his mouth and spoke softly:   
  
“Don’t ever leave me again. It hurts too much."   
  
Xander’s heart almost jumped out of his chest as she leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his lips.   
  
****************************   
  
Buffy and Dawn walked home silently. Behind them, tightly tied with a leash the Khind’Ara demon was dragged by a very discontent vampire.   
  
“Oi, why do I have to take him?" Spike protested.   
  
“Cause if It gets some slime on you, nothing will happen." Buffy explained for the fifth time since they’d left the hospital.   
  
As they made their way home, the Khind’Ara sneezed, its entire body jolted and in doing so the demon successfully covered the vampire’s right arm in slime.   
  
“Oh, bloody hell!" Spike complained as he walked into the Summers residence.   
  
The two young girls giggled at the sight of the very pissed vampire.   
  
“I’m very fond of this duster and slime-ET over here has pretty much destroyed it." Spike grumbled.   
  
“Oh, don’t be such a baby, that’ll come off in a second."   
  
Spike stomped his way up the stairs and headed towards the bathroom cursing under his breath.   
  
“Dawn go wash up too. I’m ordering pizza." Buffy told her younger sister.   
  
“No, Spike said he’d make Spike-Specials tonight. He promised." Dawn informed on her way upstairs.   
  
“Fine. I’ll order pizza for myself. Don’t come crawling back when you want some cause you’re not getting any." Buffy shouted at the teenager at the top of the stairs.   
  
*******************************************   
  
Buffy hung up the phone when she finished ordering an extra cheese and pepperoni pizza.   
  
“Hey, you’re all washed up." She noted looking at Spike who was now sporting his famous red shirt and black jeans look. “Did it come out?"   
  
“Hum… yeah." he mumbled pass her and into the kitchen.   
  
“Willow called. Said she’d stay over at Tara’s. Guess they’ve working out their problems, huh?" she asked, trying to start a conversation, but when she had no answer from the vampire she added: “Whatcha doing?"   
  
“Spike-Specials." He answered distracted as he picked the ingredients off the various shelves.   
  
Buffy leaned on the kitchen sink and watched him in silence. She fumbled with a spoon between her fingers; she couldn’t understand what had gotten into the vampire. He was so… indifferent to her presence. “Good, maybe he’s gotten over this stupid infatuation." She tried to convince herself, but she couldn’t ignore the gut wrenching feeling brought on by the idea.   
  
Spike moved through the kitchen apparently completely engrossed in his cooking. Buffy nervously tapped her fingers on the table trying to look occupied. As the vampire passed by, she deliberately moved in his way, bumping into him and causing her to loose balance. With supernatural reflexes, Spike snaked his arm around her for support.   
  
As he looked down into her eyes, her chest crushed against his, Spike thanked the gods he didn’t have a heartbeat because, otherwise, the cool and indifferent appearance he was trying so hard to keep up would have been blown to bits. His entire body ordered him to kiss her, but instead, he moved his arm away from her and returned to his cooking without another word.   
  
Buffy just stood there. Shocked. “What?" She felt her heart shrivel up in her chest, while in her stomach a painful battle seemed to break out. She swallowed hard; trying to understand how all of a sudden it looked as if she had absolutely no effect on him. She was brought down to reality by the doorbell ringing.   
  
As she left the kitchen to answer the door, Dawn walked in drying her hair with a white towel.   
  
“Hum, smells good." She complemented, standing next to the vampire, who was taking an egg from the frying pan into a clean plate.   
  
Spike smiled at her as he started cutting the bread. Buffy walked into the room carrying a pizza box in her hands.   
  
“Who wants pizza?" she asked.   
  
“No, thanks. The Spike-Specials are almost ready." Dawn replied.   
  
“Bring me those plates over there." Spike requested.   
  
“Okie-Dokie." Dawn put the plates in front of him.   
  
“There you go." Spike said with a huge grin on his face.   
  
“Do you think It is hungry?" Dawn inquired.   
  
“Well, I made an extra one, I’ll go and take it to him."   
  
“No, let me." Dawn moved to take the plate from the vampire’s hands but was stopped by her sister’s remark:   
  
“Don’t you even think about it! Let Spike take it. I don’t want you going all wonky because of goo-intoxication."   
  
Dawn pouted as Spike took the plate from her hand and walked over to the living room.   
  
“Hey there slimy, brought you dinner."   
  
The Khind’Ara demon immediately started moving around in excitement.   
  
“Food good." He noted stretching out his long arms.   
  
“Hey, watch the fast movements, buddy. I just got cleaned, don’t want your goo all over me again." Spike protested jumping back.   
  
The demon looked up at the vampire with large pleading eyes.   
  
“Ok, don’t look at me that way. Here you go." Spike left the dish on the floor, immediately the demon grabbed it and swallowed the whole thing, plate and all.   
  
“Bugger!" Spike exclaimed opening his eyes wide in surprise.   
  
Buffy half-heartedly munched on her pizza as Spike walked into the kitchen.   
  
“This is absolutely wonderful, where did you learn to cook this?" Dawn asked with a mouth full of sandwich.   
  
“Ah, that’s a secret, little bit." He winked at her.   
  
**********************************   
  
Buffy dried her hands on her jeans as she put the last plate in the dishwasher. She walked into the living room, from where she heard laughter. Looking over to the sofa she saw Spike throwing a chip in the air. The funny looking demon immediately jumped up and caught the chip in his mouth, swallowing it with a very satisfied face. Dawn was sprawled on the couch holding her stomach as she giggled uncontrollably. Spike soon joined her; the Khind’Ara was just too hilarious. “He’s laughing? Since when does he laugh? He never laughs around me." Buffy thought. Suddenly she felt evil-Buffy taking over as she ordered her sister:   
  
“Dawn, go to bed, you’ve got school tomorrow."   
  
“But, Buff-“   
  
“I don’t care. Bed. Now!" she commanded.   
  
“Come on, Slayer. It’s only ten o’clock." Spike disagreed.   
  
“Stay out of this. Dawn!" Buffy snapped.   
  
“You better go." Spike suggested giving her a light peck on the forehead. “Night, bit."   
  
“Night, Spike." She replied moving past Buffy without even looking at her."   
  
“What bit you in the ass?" Spike asked with a cold tone.   
  
“Nothing. Just don’t butt into things that are none of your business."   
  
“I care about the Nibblet, that makes it my business." Spike snapped.   
  
“Hey, she’s my sister. I’ve told you; stay. Out. Of. This." She shouted.   
  
Spike pressed his lips together to avoid saying something he might regret.   
  
“Look, I don’t know what’s got your knickers in a twist, but you’re not being fair to the Nibblet." Spike argued standing up to face her.   
  
“Stop calling her that!" she shouted.   
  
“No more food?" the demon protested.   
  
“Shut up!" both Spike and Buffy yelled back at him.   
  
“Ups! Sorry!" It squealed slowly caressing his sore stomach. Probably he had over done it when he swallowed the second plate.   
  
“You’ve got to stop treating her like a kid. She’s fourteen." Spike said turning to face Buffy again.   
  
“You are not her father."   
  
“No, I’m her friend."   
  
“Wake up, Spike! You’re a vampire. You can not be her friend." She yelled and stormed out of the room without giving him a chance to reply.   
  
  
  
Part X - Restless   
  
Spike tossed and turned trying desperately to fall asleep, but as usual Buffy’s face haunted him. His mind insisted on replaying the scenes of the day over and over again. “If she wants it to be over, fine, it’s over". Everything would be over, including his constant slavering and pining over her. As he turned to face the TV, he remembered holding her in the kitchen, earlier that evening, when they had bumped into each other. “Bloody hell, man, forget about the chit!" he ordered himself. But it was useless. The simple memory of her body crushed against his sent shivers down his spine. “Bugger!" he hissed.   
  
“Me want to sleep. Shut up." It protested as he lay on the floor.   
  
“Oh, bugger off!" Spike grumbled.   
  
“Evil." It mumbled half asleep.   
  
“Dam right I am." Spike spat.   
  
“You angry because Slayer shout?" It asked raising his eyes to the fellow demon on the couch.   
  
“None of your bloody business."   
  
“You like Slayer." It squeaked with a large toothless grin.   
  
“I do not." Spike denied.   
  
“You think Slayer is beauuuuuuuuuutiful!" It teased.   
  
“Shut up."   
  
“You want to kiss Slayer?" It continued pushing his lips to simulate a kiss.   
  
“If you don’t shut your gob I’ll come over there and ring your neck." Spike threatened.   
  
“You looooooooove h…" It wasn’t able to finish the sentence as the vampire’s cold hands were tightly gripping his throat.   
  
***********************************   
  
“Stupid Spike. Stupid, stupid." Buffy mumbled to herself as she paced around her room clutching the pillow between her strong arms. After about an hour of walking around in circles, Buffy gave up and prepared to go to bed when she heard a noise coming from the corridor.   
  
“Finally!" she whispered heading for the door and opening it abruptly.   
  
In front of her was a very surprised vampire.   
  
“What are you doing here? If you’re thinking about apologizing you can just turn around and go back to the couch, cause I really don’t want to hear it." She spat out in her usually arrogant tone.   
  
Spike just stared back, his scared eyebrow raised high on his forehead.   
  
“I wasn’t." he answered calmly.   
  
Buffy was caught off guard by the answer; her widened eyes were a testament of it, but she decided to play it cool.   
  
“Well, then what are you doing here?" she asked haughtily.   
  
“Little accident with ET down stairs." When Spike saw Buffy’s please elaborate on the subject so I can understand look he added: “Accidentally tried to choke the little fellow, got slime on my hands and had to wash up.   
  
“Oh!" Buffy murmured heading back to bed.   
  
“You ok?" he asked, he just wasn’t ready to leave her yet.   
  
“Fine! Why wouldn’t I be? I’m just peachy!" she answered with a forced smile on her face that made her look like the Joker.   
  
“Ok! Night Slayer." He greeted her limply.   
  
“Ah!" she sighed opening her mouth wide. “That’s it? Night, Slayer?" she shouted with a terrible reproduction of his London accent.   
  
“Hey, could you bring it down a notch there? Dawn’s sleeping." He warned her coming into her bedroom.   
  
“Right, Dawn." She sighed.   
  
“What’s gotten into you?"   
  
“I-I-“ she stuttered in anger. “I hate you."   
  
“Oh, it’s the I hate you speech. I’ve heard that one. If you don’t mind I’ll just skip it this time, Slayer." And he turned to walk away.   
  
“Fine. Leave. I should’ve gotten used to it by now." She murmured.   
  
“Slayer-“   
  
“Stop calling me that!" she yelled at him.   
  
“Shhhhh. Dawn-“   
  
“Yeah, Dawn’s asleep. You know what? I really don’t care." She continued talking in a loud voice and Spike was forced to cover hear mouth with his hands.   
  
“Shhhh." He repeated. As he looked at her, their proximity dawned on both of them and Buffy leaned into his hand. Coldly Spike pulled away from her.   
  
“What is this?" she spoke angrily.   
  
“What’s what?" he asked pretending not to know what she was talking about.   
  
“Why are you acting like this?"   
  
“What do you want from me?"   
  
“I-I want you to stop this… thing. I want… I-I want…" she struggled with the words and finally said with a pout. “I want a Spike-Special."   
  
“Huh?" Spike looked at her in confusion. "Why do I always go for the complicated ones?" he asked himself.   
  
“Why didn’t you make me one?" she questioned him, looking up at him.   
  
“All of this is cause of a bloody sandwich?" he stared at her in disbelief.   
  
“You didn’t answer me."   
  
“Cause you had pizza. You said you wanted to eat pizza." He explained. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation."   
  
“Maybe I wanted the sandwich." She continued.   
  
“You want me to make you a bloody sandwich at 3 am?" he asked astonished.   
  
“No." she exhaled sharply and paused for a moment. “I know you think I’m ugly but that doesn’t mean I’m not sandwich worthy."   
  
“Huh?"   
  
“You heard me. Why am I not sandwich worthy?" she asked serious as a heart attack.   
  
“Did you get some of ET’s gunk on you or something?"   
  
“No!" she shouted.   
  
“Slayer, shut up and go to sleep." He said dismissively turning toward the door.   
  
“Stop turning away from me!" she hissed pulling him by his arm.   
  
“What’s gotten into you, Slayer?"   
  
“Why do you keep calling me that? Why does Dawn get to be the Nibblet, Willow gets to be Red and I’m the Slayer?" her voice was low, her hand still held a tight grip on the vampire. “Why don’t I have a pet name?"   
  
“You had one remember? Goldilocks? You went and chopped off your hair." He hissed at her.   
  
“You think I look ugly with my hair like this? Is that it?" she asked running her hand thru it.   
  
“What’s with the teenage crises all of a sudden? Why do you think you’re ugly?" he moved his head from side to side as he spoke.   
  
“You’ve just been so different. So… distant."   
  
“I thought that’s what you wanted."   
  
“No. That’s not what I wanted. I-I want… I want…"   
  
“When you do figure out what you want, be sure to let me know." He murmured. “Cause I’m just tired of these games, I really don’t need this at-“   
  
“I want you!" she breathed pulling him to her and crushing his mouth with hers.   
  
  
  
WARNING: This chapter is basically what happens after Buffy kisses Spike which, by the rating (NC-17) one can only guess. So if you've been reading this fic but don't want to read smut, you can just jump this chapter. There is no real plot here! The rest of you who have been patiently waiting, all I can say is: "Let the smuttiness ensue!"   
  
  
  
Part XI - Giving In   
  
“I want you!" she breathed pulling him to her and crushing his mouth with hers.   
  
Spike stood there for a second, completely taken by surprise as she wrapped her hands around his neck. As he felt her tongue running across his lips, hungrily seeking a way into his mouth his body severed any connections to his brain and went into autopilot mode.   
  
He folded his arms around her slim waist and lifted her off the floor. She tried to wrap her legs around his hips but her long nightgown wouldn’t allow her. She desperately reached for the hem of it pulling it up and this time she was able to entangle herself around him. She moaned into his mouth as she felt a familiar pressure against her groin.   
  
She frantically searched for more contact, rubbing herself against his swollen crotch. A moan escaped both of them and Spike couldn’t resist the urge to slam her against the door and buck his hips towards hers. She let out a small cry of pleasure, which was muffled by Spike’s mouth covering hers once more. As their tongues battled, he continued to rub against her, increasing the pressure with every thrust.   
  
Frenetically his hands travelled up and down her thigh, after a while the right one settled on cupping her backside while the left one snaked between their bodies and rested over her soaked panties.   
  
Buffy managed to break the kiss and breathe: “Bed, Spike, bed."   
  
Amazingly, he was able to hear her and started moving towards it. When he bumped into the edge of the bed he threw himself on it. Buffy was crushed under his weight, but the urgency of her desire made her feel as if she didn’t have to breathe even though she was panting.   
  
Spike assaulted her mouth once more and his hand returned to the place between their bodies. “God, you’re so wet." He thought out loud as he started rubbing her already swollen clit through her panties.   
  
With agonizing sluggishness his fingers made their way to the edge of her cotton knickers. Pulling them aside, he moved up and down her silky lower lips ignoring the entrance to her heat as well her throbbing bud.   
  
“Spike, please." She begged as she arched her body, exposing her neck to him and parting her leg further more.   
  
The sight of her opening herself to him was too much to handle and he suddenly plunged one long finger into her.   
  
“Aaaaaaaaaah!" she cried out in mind-blowing bliss.   
  
He immediately pulled out his intruding finger and Buffy whimpered at the lost.   
  
“Shhhh. I can’t do this if you keep crying out like that. Dawn, remember?"   
  
Buffy looked up at the vampire hovering above her and nodded. He stared at her for a while as he gathered all his strength to ask her:   
  
“Are you sure you want to do this? We can- I can still stop."   
  
“Do that and I’ll stake you." She threatened.   
  
“Buffy, we can’t go back to-“ he failed to complete his sentence as he felt her small hand roughly caressed his crotch through his jeans. It took all the strength in him to speak: “Luv, that’s… not…" gasp “fair." Gasp “Oh, God that feels…" he moaned closing his eyes. As her fingers moved to unbutton his jeans it gave him time to rewire his brain and restart the program that allowed him to talk coherently. “Buf, please, are you sure? Cause I don’t think I can handle breaking up again, it just hurts too much." He looked at her with trusting eyes as she stopped undoing his pants.   
  
“Then it’s best we stop here." She said nonchalantly.   
  
Spike felt as if someone had just reached into his chest and pulled out his heart. His eyes quickly became glassy and red with tears. As he tried to pull himself off her he felt her hands tug at his red shirt. He wouldn’t look at her so she held his face and forced him to.   
  
“I’m kidding." She said with a big smile.   
  
He stared at her in disbelief.   
  
“Are you made of stone woman? How could you-“ once more he was cut off by her lips pressing against his. When he tried to push himself up she curled her legs around his thighs, successfully trapping him.   
  
“I’m sorry." She said breaking the kiss, but when he tried to speak she covered his mouth with hers.   
  
When she felt him respond to her kisses she loosen her grip around his thighs which gave him more room to manoeuvre.   
  
He trailed kisses down her neck until he found her jugular. He nipped her tender skin there as he whispered:   
  
“Don’t ever do that again."   
  
Buffy nodded and started unbuttoning his shirt. When he saw she was having trouble with it, Spike stopped kissing her for a second and pulled both his shirt and t-shirt over his head. Buffy stared at his white marble skin as her small hands caressed his abdomen and made their way down his body. She finished unbuttoning his jeans and pushed them down to his knees, then she used her feet to pull the rest of the pants off of him. She looked at his naked body and a shy smile crept to her lips. Spike couldn’t help gasping at the feel of her fingers approaching his groin. She fondled his dark curls for what seemed like centuries, painfully ignoring his aching shaft.   
  
Spike couldn’t wait anymore, taking her hand in his and placing it on the spot that claimed her undivided attention.   
  
The feel of his hand over hers, making her wrap her small fingers around his swollen member sent a jolt of electricity right to her clit. All she wanted to do was stroke him till he begged her for more, but she was in a teasing mood. He was going to pay for the lack of attention he had paid to her in the last few days.   
  
Spike was surprised when he realised that she just let her hand rest there, without moving. He abandoned kissing her neck to look at her. Her eyes teasingly smiled at him.   
  
Swallowing hard he forced the words out of his mouth:   
  
“Please... do it." his voice was hoarse with desire.   
  
“Do what?" she asked innocently.   
  
Spike placed his hand over hers and guided it up and down his cock. Both of them gasped at the intensity of the moment. The powerful wave of pleasure that washed over him made Spike loose all his strength for a second and he was forced to bring both arms to the mattress next to Buffy’s head to avoid crushing her with his weight.   
  
The moment his hand left hers she stopped stroking him. Spike sighed in frustration but soon thought of a way to make her pay for her teasing. “Oh, baby wants to play?" he asked. Buffy just looked at him.   
  
He moved his hand between her legs forcing them to part. He pushed her panties aside and began stroking the edges of her lips. She let out a powerful moan moving her hips to place his finger at her entrance. But he wouldn’t have any of that. He continued to trace tortuous path along her feminine folds, staring down at her, until she had enough and began to slowly pump him.   
  
The moment her tiny hand moved so did his. Sluggishly he buried his middle finger into her heat. She grew impatient as he refused to move any further and started stroking him faster. He responded by pulling his finger in and out of her silken channel.   
  
She expected him to increase the pace but he waited for her move. So she did, massaging him cock up and down with long but fast strokes. He responded by accelerating the rhythm with which he plunged his now soaked finger into her.   
  
“Faster!" she moaned closing her eye and arching into his hand. She was forced to open them again when she felt his finger stop. She glared at him.   
  
“I want you to look at me." He explained.   
  
As their eyes interlocked, he resumed pleasuring her, increasing the pace. “Oh, God!" she moaned, moving her hand in accordance to his rhythm.   
  
Buffy felt the waves of pleasure threatening to over take her entire body. She was amazed at how long this vampire could keep her in this state of blissful anxiety, anticipating the intense ecstasy that was to come.   
  
They stared deeply at each other and knowing she was close, he choked back a moan to warn her:   
  
“Luv, bite down on the sheets."   
  
She obeyed, pulling the edge of the covers into her mouth without ever braking eye contact.   
  
Suddenly she felt another finger plunge into her and that was it. Her entire body jolted off the mattress as if consumed by a powerful electric current. The cotton fabric in her mouth thankfully, muffled her cries as she gasped and panted uncontrollably. As she came down from her orgasm, she noticed he was still hard in her hand and resumed stroking him.   
  
To her surprise he brought his hand to hers and moved it away. She was about to protest when he placed a hungry kiss on her mouth and trailed down her neck. His fingers pulled the straps of her nightgown off her shoulders and in doing so exposed her swollen breasts to the dim moonlight. It overwhelmed him how seeing her like that always effected him as if it was the first time. She was practically naked, her nightgown pushed around her stomach exposing her heaving chest above and her damp dark curls below.   
  
Slowly he supported his weight on his forearm next to her head and reached to caress her tanned skin. She opened her mouth and exhaled sharply, at the feel of his hand circling her breast, but kept eye contact.   
  
The circles became smaller and smaller until he reached her erect nipples. He took the sensitive nub between his index finger and thumb and began to rub it skilfully.   
  
His eyes never left hers as he bent over and took her other nipple into his cold mouth. His hand then abandoned her breast, moved over her stomach and stopped between her thighs pushing them apart.   
  
His mouth soon joined his hand, until his face was between her soft legs. He broke eye contact for a second as he couldn’t help looking at her wet lower lips. He used two fingers to push them apart and didn’t give her a moment to prepare. With one long stroke his tongue licked her up to her swollen clit. “Aaaah!" Buffy wailed.   
  
Without warning, he sucked her nub into his mouth and traced circles around it with his tongue. It took all of Buffy’s strength not to scream or break eye contact. The feel of his tongue on her and the lustful look he was giving her was a dangerous combination. She couldn’t help thrusting her hips towards him over and over again. The sight of his head between her legs was just overwhelming.   
  
“Spike! Don’t stop!" she begged him as he lightly nibbled at her nub.   
  
His hands, that had been cupping her behind the entire time, moved towards her core and he shoved two fingers into her, mercilessly stroking her wet channel. Buffy seemed hypnotized by his eyes that stared at her while his mouth hungrily plundered her nub of nerve endings and his fingers penetrated her over and over again hitting just the right spot inside of her.   
  
She couldn’t hold it back any longer and for the second time that night a surge of energy coming from between her legs spread like wildfire through her entire body. “Spike!" she screamed into the piece of cloth that was still in her mouth.   
  
As the wave inside her subsided, Buffy entangled her fingers around his bleached hair, pulled him up and flipped him over so that she was the one hovering over him this time.   
  
“Luv, I-“ he shut up at the sight and feel of her tongue licking his shamelessly ignored cock. She wet her lips before taking him into her mouth.   
  
It took all of his concentration to prevent him from coming at that very moment. He could hardly remember what it felt like to be in her hot mouth. She had only done that once and he hadn’t even been able to see her do it because she was invisible at time. Her head bobbed up and down his length, making him loose control and thrust into her mouth. Feeling the tip of his cock in the throat she swallowed hard, making her muscled tighten around him and Spike groaned in pleasure.   
  
Slowly, the hand that had been caressing his sac moved upwards and wrapped itself around his shaft. Now her hand and mouth moved in accordance up and down in a painfully slow pace. Spike bucked skywards into her mouth but she brought her other hand over his stomach and pushed him down.   
  
“Please, Buffy!" gasp “Please." Moan.   
  
“Please what?" she asked huskily, her tongue darting out to lick the tip of his cock.   
  
“Please" gasp “ah! Do it" groan “faster." He finally managed to say.   
  
She obeyed and greedily took his entire length into her mouth. Spike watched as her head moved up and down at an uncontrollable rhythm and felt her hand return to his sac.   
  
“God, ah, Buffy! Stop! Ah! Stop, I’m gonna come." He warned her trying to pull out of her mouth, but she wouldn’t stop. Instead she increased the pace and moved her hand between her legs.   
  
Spike looked down at the blond headed girl sucking him into her mouth and noticed her hand moving between her own legs. “Oh God, she touching herself!".   
  
“Buffy, please stop! Ahhh! I" he looked down on her, she was still doing it. Her hand frantically caressed her nub as she moaned into his cock. “can’t control it much-“. He felt Buffy’s throat muscles tighten around the tip of his cock one more time and he was gone.   
  
He bucked into her one last time as he filled her with his seed in short and quick spurts. She milked him hungrily and swallowed every drop before coming up to rest her head over his chest.   
  
“God, Buffy, that was…" he spoke breathlessly.   
  
“I know." She replied exhausted.   
  
He lightly stoked her hair and closed his eyes waiting for sleep to come when he felt her move again. At first it was imperceptible, but soon he could feel her clearly pressing her stomach against his limp member, which seemed very willing to spring back into action.   
  
“Buffy? What are you doing?" he pretended not to know.   
  
She looked up at him with a concerned face and asked shyly: “You don’t want to?"   
  
He didn’t answer, instead he flipped her over and pushed her legs apart with his hips. He leaned in to kiss her when she felt his already hard shaft at her entrance. Her eyes widened and she stared at him in disbelief. It never cessed to amaze her how quickly he became ready. Spike smiled down on her and dipped his head into her neck lightly nipping at her tender skin as his mouth made its way to her ear. “I told you, I always want" he paused for a second and she felt his cock slip into her. “you" he groaned. She gasped as she felt her core being stretched by him. It had been a while since she had him and she had forgotten how large he was. She hissed in a mixture of pain and pleasure.   
  
“Did I hurt you?" he asked concerned. She moved her head from side to side in a silent answer. “Sure?"   
  
“Yes!" she breathed.   
  
Slowly he started moving inside of her and Buffy opened her mouth letting out a muffled scream. With long, but hard strokes he caressed her inner walls, the tip of his shaft hitting a small spot, which made her whimper. “How do you always know?" she asked him in her thoughts.   
  
Spike squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to ignore her heat, the way her muscles closed around him, Buffy’s distracting moans, the way her hands travelled down his back and cupped his ass, forcing him to plunge deeper into her, the way she thrusted upwards, meeting his every stroke.   
  
“Spike…" she moaned his name incessantly, over and over again.   
  
“Buffy, please don’t." he begged. “Shhh, don’t say anything. I… ahh… can’t… ahhh, concentrate."   
  
She tried hard to choke back her cries but it was too powerful, so she started kissing his shoulder as a distraction.   
  
Steadily he increased the pace and Buffy felt her orgasm nearing. “I’m almost there." She breathed arching upwards.   
  
As she exposed herself, Spike leaned in and roughly bit her lower lip. The mixture of pleasure and pain took Buffy over the edge and she bit down into Spike’s shoulder to keep from screaming as yet another orgasm washed over her.   
  
As he felt her inner muscles spasm and contract around his cock, he pumped harder three or four more times into her until he came. His body jerked as his semen filled Buffy’s silken core.   
  
“God!" he whispered into her ear.   
  
He tried to lift himself off of her out of habit. She always pushed him away after sex. But to his surprise she brought her arms around him slowly caressed his sweaty back. Spike felt as if his heart had just started beating again. He lifted himself up on his forearm and looked at her.   
  
“What?" she asked frowning.   
  
“Nothing. Nothing, goldilocks."   
  
Buffy smiled at the sound of her pet name and closed her eyes, falling asleep. Spike lay there next to her, his arm curled around her small body, staring at her until exhaustion won him over and he too drifted into slumber.   
  
  
  
Part XII - The Morning After   
  
“Buffy…" he gently whispered her name. When she didn’t show any sign of waking he lightly ran his fingers over her shoulder and down her arm.   
  
She moaned, still half asleep.   
  
“Luv, wake up." He called out her name. He wondered how someone as strong and powerful as the creature that now slept beside him could look so frail and helpless during slumber.   
  
Buffy refused to wake nuzzling her face against his chest, but instead of feeling the softness of his skin she was surprised by the rough touch of his red shirt. She forced her lids to open to see a fully clothed Spike laying over the covers of her bed. The room was completely dark, so she assumed it was still night.   
  
“What are you doing all dressed?" she asked curiously as she continued to nuzzle against him.   
  
He ignored her question and stood up, moving toward her nightstand from which he picked up a tray and brought it down on the bed in front of her.   
  
“What’s this?" she questioned while he turned on the bedside light. As the small lamp illuminated her room she saw that the tray contained a plate with a sandwich, a cup of orange juice, a box of chocolates and a single red rose.   
  
“I owed you a Spike-Special, remember?" he smiled at her, sitting on the bed.   
  
Buffy couldn’t help the smile that spread over her lips.   
  
“Thank you!" she whispered and leaned forward to give him a light peck on the lips.   
  
“You’re welcome, luv."   
  
As she was about to bite into the sandwich a gush of wind blew the opaque curtains apart and Buffy was able to see it was daylight. Immediately she dropped the sandwich and sat up.   
  
“What time is it?"   
  
“Eleven.""   
  
“Oh my God, Dawn!"   
  
“Don’t worry, I made her breakfast and she said she was going to buy lunch, I guess she’s kinda tired of my sandwiches." He smiled at Buffy. But his answer didn’t seem to calm her one bit, if all it appeared to add to her uneasiness.   
  
“What did you tell her?" her tone was a mixture between anxiety and anger as she stood up abruptly.   
  
“What do you mean what did I tell her?" Spike asked completely oblivious to the reasons behind Buffy’s jumpiness.   
  
She inhaled sharply and sighed, closing her eyes before speaking.   
  
“What did you tell her about this-this thing…" she trailed off pointing to the bed and then to him.   
  
Spike grimaced watching her with a questioning expression, but suddenly he noticed the desperation and fear in her eyes and everything became clear. Range took over him and he stood up not caring his sudden movement had caused the glass on the tray to tip over and cover Buffy’s bed with orange juice.   
  
“So now we are back to this being a ‘thing’, is that it?" he hissed between clenched teeth. Not giving her a chance to respond he continued blinded by anger. “Nothing has changed, has it? I’m still just a convenient scratching post that you use when you get a horny itch, is that it?" he shouted waving his arm. He paused for a while, trying hard to control himself as the tears of range and pain threatened to overflow, and then continued with a softer tone. “I asked you, Buffy. I asked you last night. Why…" he choked on the words as the tears ran down his face. “Why didn’t you say something then?"   
  
Buffy’s own eyes where soggy and bright with tears, but she swallowed hard and repeated coldly. “What did you tell her?"   
  
For a second he stood there, staring at her, expecting at any second to turn to dust as he was sure that this time she had ripped his heart from his chest and was clutching it in her powerful hands. But he didn’t, and the throat clenching pain inside him wouldn’t disappear, so he did the only thing he could. He left, slamming the door behind him, vowing to leave Sunnydale and never return.   
  
Buffy wasn’t sure how long she had stood there, frozen in place, after Spike hard stormed out of her room. She felt numb all over, unable to move an inch, insensitive to anything and everything around her, as if she had lost all ability to feel. Gradually, a distant sound became clearer and clearer, until she identified it as being the ringing of her telephone. She willed herself to move in the direction of the sound and slowly picked up the phone. From the other side of the line Willow’s familiar voice was heard.   
  
“Buffy? Where have you been, I’ve been calling you for and hour." She asked.   
  
“Hum… I was… What’s up, Willow?" Buffy forced the words out of her mouth.   
  
“Anya called from the hospital. Xander will be able to go home in the afternoon." Willow paused, waiting for a reaction from her friend, but when it never came she continued. “She said the dagger is already at the Magic Shop. Do you want us to pick it up?"   
  
Silence.   
  
“Buffy?"   
  
Silence.   
  
“Buffy?" Willow called out loud enough that it brought the Slayer back to reality.   
  
“Hum…"   
  
“I was saying the dagger-“   
  
“Yeah, I heard. No, I’ll pick it up. But I need a favour. Can you guys come over and sit It. I have to go out."   
  
“Sure, Tara and I’ll be there in ten minutes."   
  
After Willow had hung up, Buffy stood there holding the phone in her hand, completely oblivious to the dial tone. She felt like she had just finished speaking to the Wicca when she heard the doorbell ring. She looked at herself and realised that somewhere in her numbness she had dressed into a pair of jeans and a white shirt. Zombie-like she made her way downstairs and opened the door to the two witches.   
  
“Hey, Buffy!" They greeted joyfully in unison.   
  
Buffy simply nodded, picking up her leather jacket and heading for the door.   
  
“Buffy?" Willow called out. She never got an answer as the Slayer walked out.   
  
******************************   
  
She walked awkwardly into the high school as the dagger tucked into the jeans bit into the tender skin of her lower back.   
  
She knocked on the door as she reached the classroom. In a few seconds a middle-aged woman stood in front of her:   
  
“May I help you?"   
  
“Hi. I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m Buffy Summers, Dawn Summers’ older sister and guardian." She spoke calmly, but inside her heartbeat began to accelerate as she thought of how she would deal with her sister, now that she knew.   
  
“Pleased to meat you. I was wondering why Dawn hadn’t come to class today. Is she sick?" the teacher asked.   
  
“What?" Buffy asked surprised.   
  
“Is she sick?" the older woman repeated.   
  
Thinking quickly on her feet, Buffy lied:   
  
“Yes… hum… She’s been feeling a little under the weather, so I came by… hum… to let you know that she’d be missing classes today."   
  
“There was no need to come all the way here. You could’ve called." The older woman smiled.   
  
“Our phone is out." Buffy explained.   
  
There was an awkward silence, but Buffy quickly broke it:   
  
“Well, I’ll be going now. Goodbye.   
  
“Goodbye."   
  
*********************************   
  
Buffy nervously fidgeted with the key as she tried to open the door.   
  
“Dawn!" she called out as she walked into her house. “Dawn!"   
  
“Buffy!" Willow appeared coming from the kitchen.   
  
“Where’s Dawn?" Buffy asked anxiously.   
  
“She’s at school." The Wicca offered.   
  
“No, I’ve been there. She’s gone." Buffy spoke quickly as she moved between the various compartments of the house in search of her sister. “She must have been too upset." Buffy thought to herself. “I knew she’d never accept it."   
  
“Where did she go?" Willow asked as she followed the Slayer.   
  
“I don’t know. If I knew I wouldn’t be looking for her, now would I." She spat out arrogantly, but seeing her friend’s face she added. “I’m sorry Willow. I’m just worried, that’s all."   
  
“It’s ok. Well maybe she’s just skipping class… you know she-she’s done it before." The Wicca stuttered.   
  
Buffy sighed, leaning on the door to her sister’s room. “I think she’s upset about something."   
  
“Upset about what?"   
  
“Just…" Buffy pondered her words and decided not to tell anything to the witch. “Just sister stuff. We had a fight." She lied once more.   
  
“Was it big?"   
  
“I don’t know, I really don’t know."   
  
*************************   
  
Buffy hung up the phone after another unsuccessful attempt at locating her sister.   
  
“She’s not at Angela’s house either. Do you know anyone else?" she turned to the two Wiccas sitting on the couch, who both nodded negatively.   
  
Buffy sighed. She had checked out all of Dawn’s usual hangouts and nothing. She had called all of her friends and also failed to have any clue as to her whereabouts.   
  
“Stay here in case she shows up. I’ll take a walk around town, see if I can find her."   
  
The two Wiccas nodded once more.   
  
“You’ll find here, I’m sure." Willow tried to calm her friend.   
  
Buffy didn’t answer and walked out silently.   
  
******************************   
  
Buffy searched her mind for another place where Dawn could be. She realised how little she knew about her own sister. All she knew was that she liked staying at her friends’ house and sometimes walk in the park. Nothing else.   
  
She thought of what Spike might have told her sister and how much it must have hurt her. Buffy always knew that Dawn had a not so secret crush over the vampire. Everyone had noticed it, even Xander. Maybe that was one of the reasons why he disliked Spike so much. Before him, Xander was the one Dawn drooled over. The vampire himself must have been the only one who hadn’t realised it. Or maybe he just chose to ignore it.   
  
The Slayer sighed as she realised what she had to do.   
  
*********************************   
  
Instead of the usual powerful kick, she turned the knob to open the door that lead to Spike’s crypt. Inside there was complete silence and Buffy’s footsteps echoed thunderously through the entire room as she moved towards the lower level of the crypt.   
  
She was surprised to find it completely empty. She looked around, but there was no indication that anyone had ever lived there.   
  
“Spike." she whispered.   
  
Silence.   
  
“Spike!" she cried out.   
  
Silence.   
  
There was no one there. She climbed up the stairs and made her was out of the crypt. As the door closed, Spike came out of the shadows, where he had been hiding the entire time.   
  
Suddenly the door was kicked open and Spike found himself pressed against the wall, the Slayer’s enraged eyes staring at him.   
  
“What did you tell her?" she spat out venomously.   
  
When she didn’t get an answer, she tightened her grip around his throat and repeated the question. “What. Did you. Tell her?"   
  
Spike flung her across the room as he pushed her away. Buffy landed on the floor but soon enough she was back on her feet.   
  
“Wha, afraid I did some damage? Afraid your lil sis will find out what you really are?" he spoke coldly and arrogantly. “Afraid she’ll learn that the only thing that does it for you is the feel of a cold, dead body pumping into you?"   
  
Buffy stood there, taking it all in. She knew that she had hurt him and he needed to settle the score.   
  
“Afraid she’ll figure out that a normal, warm blooded, human body just doesn’t get you all wet and horny like I do? Afr-“   
  
“She’s gone." Buffy whispered, her eyes filled with tears.   
  
Spike immediately stopped and with a concerned tone asked.   
  
“How?"   
  
“Whatever you told her made her run away. She’s not at school, I called all of her friends." She paused to be able to swallow the salty tears. “She’s gone."   
  
“I didn’t tell her anything." Spike confessed.   
  
“What?"   
  
“She doesn’t know about… us."   
  
“But-“   
  
“I woke up before her. I didn’t want her to find out like that. I wanted us to tell her." Spike struggled with the words as he recalled his fight with the Slayer earlier that morning. He had woken up so hopeful, so strangely happy. “Woke her up, made her breakfast and she left for school. She never even saw me leave your room."   
  
Buffy looked at him surprised. A dreadful feeling of guilt and regret made her stomach turn as her mind replayed the events that had happen in the past few hours. As she remembered Dawn’s disappearance she shook her head and asked unemotionally:   
  
“Then where is she?"   
  
“I don’t know." He confessed.   
  
*********************************************   
  
“I don’t understand." Willow sighed as she looked through her notes.   
  
“What is it honey?" Tara asked spooning a generous amount of rise into an empty plate.   
  
“This translation, it doesn’t make sense ‘an inhuman heart which has possess Slayer blood’? I can’t seem to get it right."   
  
“You will." Tara encouraged, caressing Willow’s fiery hair before walking out of the kitchen and into the living room to feed It.   
  
Willow continued scrambling through her notes and the demon language dictionary.   
  
“Why the two verbs if they mean the same thing…" she thought out loud, tapping her pencil on the table. “Do they both refer to the inhuman heart as the subject of the sentence?"   
  
She looked through the dictionary searching for a different meaning for a certain word.   
  
“Gyali… Gyali…" she spoke as her finger searched ran down the page of the dictionary. “Gyali – Present form of the verb to have." She read “Ok, that would be has." She rationalized and continued reading “commonly used in scrolls dated from 1000 BC. Prior to this date Gyali also constituted the past tense of the verb…" Willow stopped reading as she came to the realization she had translated the passage incorrectly. She looked horrified at the dictionary, reading it over and over again. There was no doubt about it.   
  
***********************************   
  
“Hey, Buffy any luck?" Tara asked as the opened the door to the tired girl and the familiar vampire.   
  
“No." she answered bitterly.   
  
“Buffy…" Buffy turned to see Willow staring at her, bright red with tears streaming down her face.   
  
“What?" Buffy panicked.   
  
“I’m so sorry." The witch whispered. “I was wrong…"   
  
“What is it, Willow?" Tara asked concerned.   
  
“Dawn…" Willow paused to swallow back the tears. “Dawn’s the inhuman heart."   
  
  
  
Part XIII - Consequences   
  
Buffy stood there, with her mouth open trying desperately to inhale, but she felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room and she was left there to suffocate. Willow’s last words kept ringing so loud in her ears that she could hardly hear the rest of the explanation.   
  
“Buffy?" Willow called out “Please don’t go all zombie on us again." She pleaded.   
  
“Slayer!" Spike tried to snap her out of it by shaking her to the core.   
  
Buffy was brought back to reality by the feel of strong arms holding her from behind.   
  
“How?" she asked unemotionally, her eyes stone cold.   
  
“I checked for the meaning of the word Gyali, which I thought translated into has, which-which it does but…" Willow paused trying to get a grip on her emotions and then continued “it turns out that in older scrolls it can also mean to have, as in to bare, you know, to-to be born."   
  
Buffy looked at her friend confused and Willow decided to cut to the chase.   
  
“The correct translation would be… He who possesses an inhuman heart… born from the Slayer’s… blood." Willow exhaled sharply as she finished speaking.   
  
There was complete silence. All four stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Suddenly Spike lunged across the room in It’s direction.   
  
“Where is she?" he growled in a low and chilling tone as his grip tightened around the demon’s neck.   
  
“Me-“   
  
The vampire didn’t even give it anytime to answer strangling the creature till it couldn’t breathe.   
  
“Spike, stop it! You’ll kill It!" Willow shouted trying to pull Spike off It.   
  
“Where is she?" he continued snarling, not paying any attention to the witch.   
  
“Tara do something!" Willow begged as she saw the creature turning bluer and bluer in the hands of the vampire.   
  
“Separate!" as Tara said the word Spike and the Khind’Ara demon were thrown in opposite directions across the room.   
  
It coughed uncontrollably, bringing its scrawny hand to rest on its throat. As the normal complexion of the creature returned, it was able to speak:   
  
“Me…" cough “want to help."   
  
“Start speaking." Buffy ordered.   
  
“Me no know."   
  
“Wrong answer!" Spike roared making his way towards the creature with threatening eyes.   
  
Buffy turned around and stepped in his way. She looked up at him and spoke in a low and strangely calm tone:   
  
“Sit." She turned to face the creature taking the dagger that had been tucked in her jeans in her hand. “Do you know this?"   
  
It looked at the weapon and stuttered:   
  
“Master want that. Master order men to get."   
  
“You’re master ordered who?"   
  
“Tall, black face." It answered.   
  
“The same men that-that attacked us back at the Magic Shop." Tara recalled.   
  
As the image of the men’s masks flashed in front of Buffy she remembered the symbol carved into them.   
  
“Willow, there was something carved in their masks, remember?"   
  
The witch nodded.   
  
“We have to check the books back in the Magic Shop." Buffy offered.   
  
********************************   
  
“That’s it." Buffy pointed at the symbol sketched in one of the pages of the large book.   
  
“That’s the symbol of the Climes." Willow informed as she read.   
  
“Does it say anything else. Their habits, anything special about them?" Buffy inquired.   
  
“I’ll have to read more on them." Willow informed.   
  
“Maybe there is something in this one." Anya suggested carrying a large volume in her arms.   
  
“Let me help." Xander offered.   
  
“Alexander Harris, sit your butt down." Anya ordered dropping the book on the table. Xander obeyed sitting back down.   
  
Everyone picked up a book and started reading, except for It who sat in a corner, chained to a pillar. Hours passed and nothing. Willow raised her eyes from the stuffy volume she was skimming through to look up at Buffy.   
  
“Don’t worry. They can’t do anything to her if they don’t have the dagger."   
  
“I know." She spoke coldly and unemotionally, her eyes never leaving the book in front of her.   
  
“Are you ok?"   
  
“I’m fine." The same distant voice came from her.   
  
Willow gave up and returned to her researching.   
  
****************************************   
  
Sunny morning came, was replaced by dusky afternoon and still they sat around the table reading through the dusty pages. Xander’s head was slumped over his book and his drool pooled from his mouth over the yellow page.   
  
“Honey, wake up." Anya called tapping him lightly on the shoulder.   
  
“Huh, what?" Xander looked around like a lost puppy.   
  
“You’re ruining the book."   
  
“Hum… Sorry."   
  
Tara yawned as she flipped through the book for the fifth time.   
  
“You better rest for a while, luv." Spike suggested as he noticed the deep dark circles around the Wicca’s eyes.   
  
“I’m ok, Spike."   
  
The vampire nodded and returned to his own book.   
  
“She hasn’t moved from there since we arrived." Tara commented with Willow, pointing towards the tired Slayer sitting on the stairs reading through a book. “She hasn’t said a word about Dawn. She ju-just sits there flipping through the pages."   
  
“I know. I tried to talk about it with her but she avoided me, saying that everything would be fine, but she-she seems so… distant." Willow whispered with sad eyes.   
  
She had never seen her friend like that. In total Slayer mode she was icy-cold and machine like. Willow stood and walked over to her friend.   
  
“Hey."   
  
“Hey." Buffy greeted back, her gaze still buried between the pages.   
  
“Don’t you think you should get some sleep. It’s been over a day, you must be exhausted."   
  
“I’m fine."   
  
“Buffy, look at me." Willow waited for her friend to raise her head, when she did the Wicca continued. “Are you sure?"   
  
Buffy smiled weakly and uttered in a phoney joyful tone. “I’m fine, Willow." And turned her attention back to the book on her lap.   
  
The redhead sighed and made her way back to her seat.   
  
************************************   
  
The hours passed and night fell around them. Under the artificial light of the various lamps scattered around the Magic Shop the gang continued incessantly skimming through the old books.   
  
In the training room, Buffy relentlessly kicked the punching bag, the dagger ready in her hand. She was so engulfed in her practice that she didn’t even notice Spike walking into the room.   
  
He watched from afar as she massacred the bag. Her eyes were fuzzy and void of any emotion. A chill ran down Spike’s spine at the thought of how much she reminded him of the Buffybot. At that moment, even the robot seemed to have more life and humanity than the mound of muscle and skin shaped into the Slayer that stood before him.   
  
“Trying to tire yourself out, Slayer?" he asked.   
  
She was a bit startled by his presence, but soon she returned to her state of indifference.   
  
“Wouldn’t you rather kick something that might fight back?" he asked stepping closer to her.   
  
“You" punch “offering?" kick.   
  
Spike nodded and she immediately stopped kicking the bag, tucked the dagger in her pants behind her and turned to face him. Without giving him any warning, she swung her leg high in the air and her foot connected with his face. Loosing his balance, Spike landed on the floor, staring up at the Slayer.   
  
The vampire was about to protest, but realised that it was useless. Instead, he jumped to his feet and threw a punch that hit Buffy straight in her stomach. She bent over from the force of the impact. After a few seconds she looked up, her hands covered her sore belly.   
  
What Spike saw in her eyes brought a mixture of angst and calm over him. Is that a spark of rage? Spike wasn’t able to answer his the question before the hint of emotion in her eyes vanished. She stood there, immobile and lifeless once more.   
  
Spike’s leg flew up for a back kick, which Buffy easily blocked grabbing his foot and pushing it against him, causing him to be propelled across the room. Spike stood up once more and lunged at her. They fell to the floor together, rolling a few times before she ended up sitting on top of him throwing quick jabs at him. But contrary to what had happen weeks before in the dark alley, Spike didn’t lay there taking it, instead he grabbed her wrists and flipped her over. It was his turn to straddle her; her arms tightly secured over her head and her legs trapped between his. She struggled to free herself but it was useless. For some reason the vampire was too strong this night.   
  
“Had enough?" he hissed with a serious face.   
  
She answered by relentlessly trying to free herself.   
  
“Slayer!" she continued to struggle. “Slayer!" he shouted loud enough to be heard in the entire Magic Shop.   
  
“What was that?" Xander asked getting up and heading towards the training room.   
  
“Xander, sit down." Anya ordered.   
  
“But Spike’s-“ he tried to explain but the ex-demon intervened once more.   
  
“Xander, for once butt out of Buffy’s business." Anya hissed. He had no choice but to sit back down when he saw Tara and Willow’s faces.   
  
Back in the training room Buffy continued to struggle under Spike’s tight grip.   
  
“Slayer!" he shouted once more, banging her arms on the floor over her head. “Bloody hell, look at me woman!"   
  
At the sound of his angry voice she stopped struggling and looked up at him.   
  
“You are too tired. You have to sleep. If these Climes guys come lurkin’ around here you won’t be able to fight them. You’re too weak." He spoke calmly, but his concern was evident.   
  
“Please let go of me." She asked automatically.   
  
Spike sighed and let go of her arms. The moment she felt his grip loosen she pushed him off her. The vampire lay on the floor facing her as she hovered over him.   
  
“I’m fine." She spat out turning around to leave.   
  
In a fraction of a second he was up and standing in front of her, effectively blocking her passage.   
  
“Stop saying that." He hissed.   
  
As a response he received a strong punch in the face that made his head fly back. After the initial shock he returned the pleasantry by jabbing her twice. They resumed sparing, none of them holding back.   
  
“Give it a" punch “rest" punch “Slayer!" kick, kick. “Stop" jab “acting like" punch “a bloody zombie."   
  
At his words Buffy doubled the frequency of her punches, but they seemed to loose strength. Fatigue, the lack of sleep, her fears over Dawn took their toll on her.   
  
Spike saw the change in her. Her eyes welled up with tears and her punches gradually became weaker, until Spike stopped fighting back.   
  
“How didn’t I know?" Buffy cried out, as her fists hit Spike’s chest. For a normal guy that would cause them to fall to the floor in pain, but for a vampire her assaults filed more under rough caresses. “I should have know. I was so stupid."   
  
“You couldn’t have known." He whispered, standing there taking every hit she threw at him.   
  
“I-I…" she tried to speak. Buffy felt an onslaught of emotions take over her and she couldn’t keep the tears from streaming down her face.   
  
The sight of the crying Slayer caused a conflict inside Spike’s mind. On one end his pride and his bruised ego pulled him away from her, on the other his bashed heart begged him to forgive her, to whisper in her ear that everything would be ok. It took only seconds for the battle to end and for the former to be deemed the loser party. In the blink of an eye he his hands held hers, pulling them towards his chest. Slowly his arms curled around her tiny waist, holding her steadily against him.   
  
As she felt him surround her, she allowed herself to break down and slowly slump to the floor, dragging Spike with her.   
  
They sat on the cold wood; he cradled her head on his chest as she sobbed uncontrollably. She forced the air into her lungs but her stiffened throat wouldn’t allow it, so he started gently caressing her hair as he rocked back and forth.   
  
“Shhhh…" he tried to calm her down.   
  
Eventually she was able to control her breathing. She clung to his shirt, nuzzling her face on the rough cloth, mumbling muffled and confused words as the fear subsided and sleepiness settled in.   
  
“I should…" sob “…known." Snivel “I…"   
  
“Shhhh… Don’t think about that now. Just go to sleep." Spike’s soothing words echoed in her ears as she slowly drifted into slumber.   
  
********************************   
  
“Shouldn’t we go and check on them or something." Xander suggested for the six time that night.   
  
“Go to sleep." Anya mumbled tightening her grip on her lover. They lay sprawled on the floor, while Tara and Willow continued to research.   
  
“But…" he insisted, but when he saw Anya’s annoyed glance in his direction he decided it was in his best interest to shut up.   
  
Willow smiled at Tara. They had gotten a few hours of sleep and now it was their turn to keep watch. The Wicca scribbled a little note and passed it to the brown-haired girl.   
  
“Do you think they’ve made up?" Tara read and wrote her answer on the same piece of paper.   
  
“I hope so. They’ve gotten back to their usual bickering and they are sleeping all cuddled up."   
  
As Willow read the answer she looked up at Tara, a frown settled on her eyebrows. “Not Anya and Xander." She whispered and pointed to the training room as she added. “Them."   
  
“Oh, them! I don’t know! At least they stopped shouting, I think that’s a good sign." Tara smiled sweetly and Willow felt her hear melt.   
  
*********************************   
  
In a dark room, a hooded figure walked slowly towards a marble altar, where Dawn’s feeble body lay motionless. Around them men chanted in an ancient language. As the man reached his destination the young teenager started waking from her tired slumber. She opened her eyes just in time to see a dagger coming down on her chest.   
  
“BUFFY!" she cried out as the blade cut through her tender skin.   
  
  
  
Warning: Rating NC-17.   
  
Part XIV - Realisation   
  
“BUFFY!" she cried out as the blade cut through her tender skin.   
  
“DAWN!" Buffy sat up, heaving uncontrollably, tears streaming down her sweaty cheeks as the gruesome images still played out in front of her eyes.   
  
“Buffy, it’s just a dream." A familiar voice whispered from behind her.   
  
Startled, she turned to see the vampire sitting next to her, his hand lightly caressing her back.   
  
“God, it was horrible!" she breathed as her heart raced in her chest.   
  
Spike moved in closer as he noticed Buffy’s new stream of salty tears run down her face. He cupped her head in his hand and brought it to his shoulder.   
  
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing." She said weakly.   
  
“They can’t harm her if they don’t have the dagger." Spike explained.   
  
Buffy immediately went for the blade tucked in her pants and clung to it as if to life itself, rocking back and forth cuddled up in the vampire’s long arms. She inhaled sharply taking in his scent; the familiar mixture of cigarettes and alcohol assaulted her nostrils and she couldn’t help nuzzling against him. She moved her nose up, down and back up his chest until she reached the tender and pale skin of his neck.   
  
A jolt of electricity run down Spike’s back as he felt her dry lips brush against his neck. Buffy’s left hand let go of the dagger, that was sill trapped in her right one, to slip in between the buttons of his shirt. As the tips of her fingers caressed the soft fabric of his white t-shirt, she gently pushed his chest down to the floor. Spike resisted at first, but soon he lay on the floor, Buffy’s warm body moving snake-like over him.   
  
Buffy’s lips ran along his jaw line until she found his dry ones. Her hair fell around his face as she opened her mouth and sucked in his lower lip. Spike remained motionless under her weight, as the intensity of the moment overwhelmed him. In his mind, the war between his ego and his heart raged once more, as Buffy’s legs parted and took his between them.   
  
Unconsciously, Spike parted his lips, giving her full access to plunder his mouth. And so she did. Her moist tongue slipped in, sluggishly exploring every inch of him, until it connected with his own. At the feel and taste of him, Buffy felt something inside her break free.   
  
Slowly the battle in Spike’s mind subsided and his hands were free to roam over her body. One slipped behind her back under her shirt, while the other took its place over the nape of her neck as he hungrily opened his mouth to deepen the kiss.   
  
As their tongues danced and battled, Buffy’s fingers struggled to unbutton his shirt. Eventually, she succeeded and proceeded with undressing him by slipping her warm hand under his t-shirt. She gasped at the feel of his hard muscles under her.   
  
Spike moved his own hand up her back, dragging her grey t-shirt with it. They broke the kiss for a second as they slipped their shirts over their heads. When the uncomfortable items were out of their way their lips met once more.   
  
Their bare stomachs lightly brushed over each other and Spike moaned into her mouth. His hand travelled up and down her back until he found her braw. It took him a second to unclasp it, move his fingers over her shoulders and down her arms dragging the straps with them and take off her braw.   
  
The feel of her erect nipples pressing against his chest made him gasp and suddenly his jeans were getting a little too tight, biting into his swollen cock.   
  
The pain faded away as Buffy moved her hand between their bodies and started undoing his jeans. She slipped her fingers in, slowly stroking him. The vampire growled, lightly nipping her lips. He tugged at the edge of her pants, pulling them down.   
  
It didn’t take long for Spike’s jeans to be taken off too and soon he lay naked under her. As the vampire now tugged at her panties, Buffy returned her small hand to his groin, moving at a slow and steady rhythm. As the thin layer of cotton came off, Spike could feel the heat emanating from between her legs. All he wanted to do was bury himself deep inside her, but he knew she needed to do this at her own pace.   
  
Her hand abandoned his swollen member as she moved to position herself over him. She moved in an agonizingly slow way and he released his frustration by ravaging her mouth.   
  
She parted her legs, setting one on each side of his thighs, her wet opening hovering over his throbbing cock. His hands rested on her thighs and Spike resisted the urge to push her down.   
  
Buffy broke the kiss and as she raised her torso, her hips came down. He was able to strangle a cry in his throat as he felt her heat envelop him, but as he opened his eyes and saw her, naked, sitting on top of him with her head fallen back, a groan escaped his parted lips.   
  
She sat there for a while, adjusting to his size. Then, she slowly started moving up and down, her hands resting on his stomach.   
  
She was absolutely breathtaking. Her perfect milky skin, bathed in the faint moonlight, possessed gaudy shades of blue. His hands travelled from her hips, up her waist and over her round breasts.   
  
Buffy moaned at the feel of his fingers brushing over her erect nipples, and increased the pace. As the pressure inside her built she felt the need to be touched harder. His stroking was light as a feather and so she brought her hands over his, instructing him to roughly cup her breasts. He obeyed and she felt a small chill travel from her round globes straight to the sensitive nub between her legs.   
  
Noticing she was nearing her release, Spike’s left hand abandoned her breast, moved down her stomach and rested in front of her mound of curls; his thumb slipped under it. There it found her swollen clit. Buffy gasped at the contact, but as he started moving his finger in small circles, she felt her whole world cave in. Her head flung back once more, as a powerful orgasm took over her body. Her hips bucked uncontrollably and her inner muscle contracted at a frightening pace causing Spike to loose control. His body jerked upwards as his own release came in small spurts.   
  
As Buffy came down from her orgasm, she suddenly felt her whole body grow numb and she let herself fall on top of Spike, covering his chest with hers.   
  
******************************   
  
Buffy woke to the sound of rustling clothes. With great effort she forced her eyes to open. She was laying on the floor, her naked body covered by the her t-shirt and pants.   
  
“Time to wake up, Slayer. You’re chums may come in any minute."   
  
She sat up, using her t-shirt to cover her chest and looked in the direction of Spike’s voice to see him finish buttoning his jeans.   
  
“Spike…" she whispered, but he cut her off.   
  
“Better hurry." He said exiting the training room, leaving her sitting on the cold floor.   
  
Buffy felt as if someone had just punched her right in the stomach. She tried to ignore the choking feeling in her throat and started gathering her clothes and putting them on.   
  
******************************   
  
Spike entered the room to find Willow and Tara asleep on the floor and Xander and Anya sitting on the table looking through two large books.   
  
Xander looked up and was about to say something, but as he opened his mouth all that came out was a strangled cry of pain, as Anya’s heel connected with his calf.   
  
“Morning, Spike." She greeted with a forced smile.   
  
Spike frowned, he couldn’t believe his senses. Had the ex-demon just kicked her lover to stop him from saying something inappropriate? Anya, miss I don’t know when to keep my mouth shout so I always end up with my foot in my mouth?   
  
“Anything?" he asked.   
  
“Nop." She answered with a sad face. “There doesn’t seem to be anything unusual about the Climes."   
  
“Guess they’re just normal folks with very bad religious choices." Sarcasm dripped from each words that came out of Spike’s mouth.   
  
“Hey, Buffester." Xander called out as he saw her walk in.   
  
“Hey." She answered automatically. Her eyes searched the shop for the vampire and they found him crouching next to It, giving him some pizza leftovers.   
  
When she made her way in his direction he stood up and went back to the table.   
  
“Any reason why they always sport this all black, mask with white symbol look?" Spike asked pointing to a sketch of a Clime.   
  
“Not really." Willow’s hoarse voice was heard. They turned to see the Wicca rise from the floor while rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Yawning, she dragged her tired body to the table and sat in a chair. “I read a passage about an oath they made on the day of Aronh’s death. Something about never feeling the warmth of the sun until their master had been reborn."   
  
“That means they have to stay underground." Spike rationalized. “Well, that’s a start."   
  
“Spike, there are a million places under the city. This is the Hellmouth!" Buffy walked up to the vampire.   
  
Spike ignored her comment moving away from her.   
  
“Well, what do they say about their numbers?"   
  
Everyone looked at Spike questioningly. What was he getting at?   
  
“How many are they nowadays?" he rephrased. “If they’re a lot of them there aren’t many caves around these parts big for a big group."   
  
“Well, it says here that they were pretty numerous back in the day, but I don’t know about now." Willow offered.   
  
“Well, let’s assume their numbers haven’t changed much. Considering they think they’re getting this Aronh guy back, they must have all come to see it, right?"   
  
Everyone nodded, including a sleepy Tara who had just woken.   
  
“Anything else on them?" Buffy asked.   
  
“Not much more."   
  
“What about the ritual?" Spike inquired.   
  
“Well, they need to tear the fabric between the earth and limbo. So they’ll probably pick a spot where the space between the two worlds is already very thin…" Willow trailed off as it dawned on all of them; Xander was the only one to say it out loud:   
  
“The Hellmouth!"   
  
  
  
Part XV - Surprise   
  
They stood at the entrance to the old high school, or what was left of it. A heavy silence fell around them as all the memories assaulted their senses.   
  
Buffy’s mind raced as she remembered all the smiles, tears and blood that those crumbled walls had witnessed. On one hand she thanked God that the building had burned down, at least this way Dawn could go to a semi-normal high school, further away from the actual Hellmouth. “Dawn…" She shook away her uncertainties and fears over what might be happening to her sister and spoke:   
  
“Everyone remember the plan?"   
  
They all nodded, including It, who was still tied with a chain that dangled out of Spike’s hand.   
  
“Cross us and I swear you’ll regret ever being born." The vampire hissed.   
  
It’s gaze immediately fell to the floor in fear.   
  
They walked between the rubble and wreckage as they made their way underground.   
  
“God, this is creepy." Anya whispered.   
  
“You can say that again." Xander spoke as he jumped over a large hole in the ground.   
  
“Well, what do we do now?" Willow asked. In front of them the tunnel divided into two different paths. “Left or right?"   
  
“How about right. Right is always good." Anya immediately suggested.   
  
“Wait." Spike ordered. Everyone turned to face him as he sniffed the air around them. “Something smells funny."   
  
“I can’t smell any- Oh, vampire, right!" Xander reminded himself.   
  
“It comes from there" he pointed to his left. “It’s…" sniff “rosemary."   
  
“Rosemary?" Xander and Anya said in unison.   
  
“Why would these guys want rosemary?" Buffy asked.   
  
“The Climes believed rosemary had cleansing properties. They used it to bathe their…" Willow hesitated. “their sacrifice victims."   
  
Silence surrounded them once more as everyone feared for the young teenager’s life. Buffy was the one to break it.   
  
“That means we’re close. Everyone ready?"   
  
They nodded and waited for Buffy’s command.   
  
“We’ll stick to the plan. You guys go right, me and Spike will head left."   
  
As they parted ways, Willow approached Buffy and whispered before giving her a light peck on the check: “Good luck."   
  
Buffy nodded and walked away into the darker tunnel. Spike quickly followed her.   
  
******************************************   
  
“We’ve been walking for hours, I don’t think we’re under the high school anymore." Xander complained.   
  
“I get the feeling we’re walking around in circles." Anya joined in protest.   
  
“Shhh." It’s screeching voice was heard. “Me hear something."   
  
Everyone strained to hear but none of them did.   
  
“I don’t hear- wait don’t tell me, demon right?" Xander said and then added in a low, childlike grumble: “I wanna have special powers too, no fair. Buffy gets to be the Slayer, Spike’s the vampire, Willow and Tara are the powerful-“   
  
“Shhh." It hissed loudly.   
  
“Great I’m being shushed by a short anorectic version of ET."   
  
“Xander!" Willow finally stepped in.   
  
“Don’t worry honey, I don’t have any special-“   
  
“Anya!!" Willow almost shouted.   
  
“Fine, shutting up now." The ex-demon grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.   
  
“Thank you. What do you hear, It?" Willow turned her attention to the small creature next to her.   
  
“Singing pray." It answered.   
  
Everyone was left scratching their head until Tara offered:   
  
“Ch-chanting? Is it chanting."   
  
It nodded frenetically.   
  
********************************************   
  
Spike and Buffy walked around in excruciating silence as they followed the now powerful scent of rosemary.   
  
“Spike?" Buffy started to speak, her heart pounded against the walls of her chest.   
  
No answer. Spike’s eyes looked straight ahead, concentrated in pursuing the odour.   
  
“Spike?" she called again.   
  
Once again she had no answer.   
  
“Spike!" she finally yelled, turning him to face her.   
  
“Will you shut your gob? They can hear." he hissed freeing himself from her strong grip.   
  
“We have to talk."   
  
“There’s nothing to talk about." Spike snapped looking at her with knifes in his gaze.   
  
“What-“   
  
“Nothing. It was just a bloody slip up. You were vulnerable, needed some comfort, I was…" he swallowed hard and added in a venomous tone: “convenient."   
  
“Spike-“ Buffy was cut off once more, but this time by Spike’s strong arms pushing her aside.   
  
She hit the floor and as she looked up she saw Spike laying on the ground, over him stood a hooded figure with a long spear pointed straight at the vampire’s throat. The Slayer shook her head and lunged at the attacker, pushing him to the floor.   
  
A struggle ensued, Buffy’s fists flew, hitting the masked man at a frenetic pace, she was blinded by rage. It was clear she had the upper hand until she suddenly felt an invisible force pull at her and throw her against the wall. She lost awareness for a few seconds and when she came to two large obsidian eyes stared at her from under a black mask.   
  
Buffy tried to get up, but an overwhelming pain took over her and all she could do was lay on the floor and stare at the spear coming straight at her.   
  
The blade stopped inches from her face as Spike pulled the lance from the man’s hands and drove it through his chest. The hooded figure hit the floor lifeless almost as quickly as Spike’s hands reached his head.   
  
A strangled cry came out of the vampire’s lips as the sharp pain in the back of his neck took over all of his actions. It grew in intensity and it didn’t seem to ever stop. Eventually, he fainted as it became too overwhelming.   
  
“Spike!" Buffy called out, standing over him.   
  
When she didn’t get any answer she kneeled next to the wounded vampire and tried to shake him into consciousness. Minutes passed and nothing. She was starting to get worried. Why didn’t he wake, was he- “No, it can’t be. He’s not dust." She reminded herself and restarted pushing and pulling at his shirt, but Spike seemed to refuse to wake up. “Maybe the chip did something to him and now he can’t…" Buffy pushed the painful thought aside.   
  
“Spike…" she whispered with a trembling voice. “Spike, please wake up." She begged as her eyes welled up with tears. “William…"   
  
He stirred as reality slowly sunk in.   
  
“Hum…" he moaned sitting up.   
  
“You ok?" she asked concerned as she brought her hand to rest on the nape of his neck.   
  
“Hey! Watch the head, Slayer?" Spike protested pushing her arm away and standing up.   
  
He walked over to the immobile body sprawled on the floor and motioned to it as he spoke:   
  
“Is he…?"   
  
“Yes." She answered coming to stand next to him.   
  
“Good, we can go on now." He said in a low voice and moved away from her.   
  
“Spike." She called after him, but he didn’t seem to listen, so she shouted. “I’m sorry, ok?"   
  
He stopped dead in his tracks.   
  
“I’m really sorry." She whispered.   
  
He inhaled sharply as he pushed back the urge to turn around, run to her and tell her he didn’t care, that no matter how many times she pushed him away, he would always come back to her. But instead he put on his haughtiest grin and turned on his heels to face her.   
  
“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Summers. I told you, you needed a good shag, I was- well I always am – horny, and that was that."   
  
His words left his mouth and punched her straight in the stomach.   
  
“What?" she asked with a faltering tone, seeing him come closer to her.   
  
“It was… an accident." he said arrogantly. “A very good accident…" his eyes narrowed as he approached her and ran his fingers along her collarbone. “If you’re ever in a mood to repeat it, I’m always… hum… up for it, if you know what I mean." He bit his lip as his index finger made it’s way towards the hem of her shirt.   
  
“Wh-What is this?" she continued asking shocked by the way he was acting.   
  
“Wha’, don’t feel like having a roll in the hay?" he hissed venomously.   
  
“Why are you saying-?" she replied pushing his hand away from her chest.   
  
“I guess with the whole Dawn thing it’s best not to, huh?"   
  
“Why are you doing this?" rage started to take over her. “Is this a revenge thing? Is that it? Are you trying to get back at me?"   
  
“I think I finally got over this ridiculous infatuation for you, Summers." He spoke with his chin raised up high and his eyes staring down on her. “I guess you were right all along."   
  
She swallowed hard as she tried to push back the tears. “What?"   
  
“You heard me, Slayer. You were right, it was just… a whim. Just curiosity." He shook his shoulders. “I guess I wanted to know what it’s like to shag the Slayer. And I must tell you, luv, it’s quite a ride. On a scale of-“   
  
Her open hand connected with his cheek, causing him to turn his face.   
  
“Don’t. Ever. Speak to me. Ever again." She hissed and pushed pass him.   
  
Spike stood there watching her as she walked away, as a heart wrenching pain took over his body. He felt as if he was suffocating, even though he knew the fact that he was a vampire meant that he didn’t need to breathe. Slowly, he let the tears, he had been holding back for so long, stream down his face.   
  
“I guess you’ve lost her for good, mate." He said to himself.   
  
**************************************   
  
“Where is he taking us?" Anya asked in an annoying tone.   
  
Xander was about to comment when suddenly they realised that ten or more hooded men surrounded them.   
  
“Huh, Xander?" Willow asked.   
  
One of the men stepped forward and grabbed the witch by her throat.   
  
“Let go of the chain." He ordered. She obeyed dropping the shackles that restrained the Khind’Ara demon.   
  
The man dropped Willow to the floor and she coughed uncontrollably.   
  
“Honey, are you ok?" Tara asked concerned kneeling next to her lover.   
  
“Where is the dagger?" the hooded man asked.   
  
“We don’t know what you’re talking about." Xander replied bravely.   
  
“Slayer and vampire have dagger." It answered happily.   
  
  
  
Part XVI - The Plan   
  
“Where are they?" the hooded man asked.   
  
“In tunnel, me show." It squealed, rubbing its scrawny hands together.   
  
“You miserable little-“ Xander yelled but was cut off when a strong fist connected with his nose.   
  
“Xander!" Anya called out, kneeling next to him.   
  
“I’m fine." He reassured her. “I knew we couldn’t trust a demon."   
  
“You will take me to them. But first we must go back and call our brothers."   
  
They walked for a few minutes until they reached a large cave. Soon, ten other men, dressed in a similar way, joined them.   
  
“Take them and put them in the cell." The man ordered. Then pointing to five of his men he added: “You watch the girl." They nodded and left the room and he motioned to the rest of the group: “You come with me, we need that dagger. Time is running out."   
  
Xander struggled a bit but in was useless and soon they all found themselves in a small chamber where the only way out was a steel bar door.   
  
“What now?" Tara asked concerned.   
  
“We wait and see what happens." Willow whispered clinging to one of the bars as she looked at the large stone altar covered with blood in front of them.   
  
****************************************   
  
In the meantime, Spike and Buffy continued to roam the empty tunnels after the scent of rosemary. They walked in silence for what seemed like hours.   
  
Suddenly the vampire stopped and turned to face her.   
  
“Buffy…" he whispered.   
  
Even though the sound of her name on his lips made her knees weaken and her heart jump a beat she continued walking.   
  
“Buffy…" he called again, but she didn’t stop.   
  
The excruciating pain that had settled in his chest since he had said those venomous words to her took over his entire body and he felt his legs falter under him as he tried to catch up with her.   
  
“Buffy." He practically shouted as he turned her to face him.   
  
“Let. Go. Of. Me." She harshly punctuated each word as she tried to control the anger inside her.   
  
“What I said back there…"   
  
“It doesn’t matter anymore." She spat out.   
  
“I didn’t mean to…"   
  
“I know very well what you meant. I don’t wanna hear it." She pushed him away as she tried to free herself from his grip, but it was no use, he held her tightly and forced her to face him once more as he reached with his other hand and grasped her free arm.   
  
“Will you listen to me, for once in your bleeding stubborn life?" he yelled, pulling her closer to him, crushing her chest against his.   
  
Buffy felt her heartbeat accelerate and her breathing become shallow. She hated that he always had this effect on her, no matter how angry she was at him.   
  
“I didn’t mean to hurt me, it’s just that…" he swallowed hard as he took in the scent of her. “Why can’t you just admit there is something strong pulling us together? Why don’t you just give into it?"   
  
She breathed heavily as they stared at each other. Suddenly she snapped out of her trance and broke free of his grip.   
  
“Even if there was something between us, it’s gone. You saw to it." She spat in anger.   
  
“You just pissed me off with your indecision. One day you’re hot, the next you’re cold. You can’t keep doing this to me!" he yelled.   
  
“Do what?" she shouted back.   
  
“You can’t keep coming to me and then leave whenever one of your scoobies show up."   
  
“What did you want me to do? Wake up, merrily strut my way to Dawn’s room and just say: ‘Hey, how are you today? Sleep well? I’ll just be off making you breakfast, oh and by the way, I’m shagging Spike!’ Is that it?" she bellowed of the top of her lungs.   
  
“No!" he hissed, closing his eyes as he searched for control. “I just wanted…"   
  
“I can’t tell them!"   
  
“Why the Hell not?" he shouted annoyed.   
  
“Because this is wrong!" she cried out as tears drowned her blue eyes.   
  
“Ha! I thought you’d never come around to saying." He exhaled sharply. “I guess we’re back to the same old bleeding song, ey? ‘You’re evil, you’re a disgusting evil thing.’ Isn’t that the way it goes?"   
  
“It’s not-“   
  
“Save it, Slayer." It was Spike’s turn to start walking away and Buffy’s to stop him.   
  
“Spike, will you just hear me out." She shouted.   
  
He turned to face her. His eyes were red and glassy with tears.   
  
“I don’t want to hear it all again." He spoke softly but, as he continued, his tone grew as the anger built up inside him and eventually he was shouting. “I know that I’m a monster, that’s all you see. That’s all you’ve ever seen in me. An evil, disgusting, worthless vampire." He spat out.   
  
“Spike-“   
  
“Don’t! Let’s just get this over with and save Dawn." He turned to leave when Buffy grabbed him by his arm.   
  
“Spike, we need to talk about this." She begged.   
  
He was about to answer when he heard a loud cry coming from deep inside the tunnel.   
  
“Dawn!" they both said in unison.   
  
************************************   
  
They ran as fast as they could in the direction of the scream until they reached a large cave. Various torches spread across the room illuminated it. In one of the darker corners sat Dawn, trying to straighten her torn and dirty clothes. Five hooded men surrounded her.   
  
“Dawn!" Buffy whispered as she tried to run to her sister.   
  
“Slayer." Spike called in a low voice, grabbing her by her arm and forcing her to hide in the shadows with him. “We can’t take them out."   
  
“What do you mean?"   
  
“Human, chip." His index finger motioned from the men to his head. “I can’t help you, remember?"   
  
“They’re only five of them."   
  
“Well, we don’t know if there are more of them." Spike tried to reason. “Plus, they have a touch of the Magic, if you recall."   
  
Buffy sighed. “What’s you’re plan?"   
  
“We wait till they leave. You know we need the wiccas for this."   
  
Buffy nodded and sat down in the shadows. Soon enough, as the men left the room leaving only one to look after Dawn, Buffy saw her chance and went for it. Not giving Spike any warning she lunged at the hooded figure and curled her arm around his neck, squeezing it until she felt him falter and fall to the floor unconscious.   
  
The young teenager raised her eyes to see Buffy kneeling next to her and wrapping her arms around her.   
  
“Oh, Buffy. I knew you’d come."   
  
“Are you ok?" the Slayer asked concerned as she ran her hand along Dawn’s body looking for any sign of injury.   
  
“I’m fine."   
  
Bringing her arms around her sister once more Buffy cradled her head on her shoulder.   
  
“We better hurry, this guy will soon wake up and the others might come back." Spike spoke out.   
  
Buffy stood helping Dawn up, but she stumbled.   
  
“You’re hurt, what happen?" she asked as anger grew inside her.   
  
“It’s nothing." Dawn hesitated as she tried to pull her torn skirt over her bruised leg.   
  
“Let me see." Buffy insisted, pushing the fabric away to reveal a deep gash along her thigh.   
  
“Who did this to you?" Spike growled when he saw the wound.   
  
Dawn remained silent.   
  
“Nibblet, tell me." Spike spoke calmly but it was clear that deep inside his blood was boiling with untamed rage.   
  
“They… They needed my blood to wash th-the sacrificial altar." She stuttered; her eyes glued to the floor.   
  
“I’ll kill them." Spike hissed making his way to the tunnel the other men had disappeared into.   
  
“Spike, don’t. We’ll deal with this later, first we’ve got to get Dawn to safety." Buffy reminded him and he sighed, swallowing hard as he tried to get his emotions under control.   
  
“Let’s go." He simply said. When he saw Dawn’s effort to stand up he knelt down next to her. “Lemme help ya."   
  
He put one arm around her tiny waist and the other under her knees and lifted her smoothly. Instinctively, the little girl curled her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. They started making their way back out when Buffy remembered.   
  
“Willow and the others." She whispered. “Do you think they went ahead with the plan?"   
  
Spike looked around and answered: “Looks, that way. The place is too empty."   
  
“Dawn, did something happen out…er of the usual around here?" Buffy asked.   
  
“Yeah. There were about ten men in this room, then another one came in and called them and they left. After a while there were only five, which is strange cause all the time I’ve been here there’s always been at least ten men around me.   
  
“I guess It did his part then." Spike sighed.   
  
“That means Willow and the others are probably trapped." Buffy concluded. “When was this, Dawn?"   
  
“About half an hour ago."   
  
Buffy paused for a while and then added: “You go on ahead and get Dawn to safety and I’ll look for them."   
  
“No, I won’t leave you here." Spike protested putting Dawn down and pulling Buffy away from the tired teenager.   
  
“We have no choice. We have to get Dawn to safety."   
  
“Buffy-“   
  
“Go."   
  
“Fine, then you take Dawn out of here and I’ll look for them." Spike suggested distressed.   
  
“And if you run into our hooded friends you’ll do what? Annoy them to death?" Buffy asked with a sweet smile over her lips. It was amazing how sometimes he forgot that she was the Slayer and that she could handle herself. Well, most of the times.   
  
Spike looked at her, desperation was the most evident emotion in his glassy eyes. Finally he realised that arguing with her would only put all of them at risk.   
  
He felt tempted to run his fingers over her jaw line and pull her into a kiss, but he new better, instead he whispered: “Be careful." And walked away, picking up Dawn and making his way back were they had come from.   
  
Buffy watched as they moved and disappeared into the shadows. She sighed and made her way to the other tunnel. Soon, she was in a different room. On one side was an altar red with blood. Buffy shivered at the thought of what could have happen to her little sister. On the opposite side was a larger cage and…   
  
“Willow." Buffy sighed with relief at the sight of her best friend and ran to her. “Are you ok?"   
  
“We’re fine. What about Dawn?" the Wicca asked.   
  
“Spike’s got her, his getting her out. We better get you guys out of here before they return. Step away from the door." And with that Buffy backed up, took a deep breath and started running towards the steel door. It gave in and broke open as the Slayer’s foot connected with it.   
  
“Buffster, I’m impressed." Xander joked nervously as he made his way out of the cell and hugged his friend.   
  
“What about It?" Buffy asked.   
  
“I guess the little guys really came through for us there. He must have them walking around in circles right about now." Xander explained with a grin.   
  
“Good, we have to get out of here." Buffy offered.   
  
“You’re going nowhere."   
  
Buffy turned around to see a sea of hooded men in front her. One of them had an unconscious It hanging by his neck.   
  
  
  
Part XVII - The Plan   
  
“Where’s the dagger, Slayer?" the man spoke coolly.   
  
Buffy felt the sharp blade graze the tender skin of her lower back and cursed herself for not handing it to Spike.   
  
“I don’t think you’ll be needing it anymore." She tried to seem calm about it all, but deep inside, her heart raced and her stomach was tied in stiff knots.   
  
“And why is that?" the masked figure asked.   
  
“The girl is gone." A man coming from one of the tunnels shouted.   
  
“What?" the leader inquired. His tone changed immediately as he took in the information. “What do you mean she’s gone?"   
  
“She’s no longer in the west cave." The minion said in a faltering tone.   
  
“She can’t be gone, we don’t have much time left."   
  
“Darn those pesky rituals. They always seem to have a deadline, don’t they?" Buffy mocked. “There’s always something about the planets, or the moon, the tides, the-“   
  
She was forced to shut up when an invisible force smashed her against the wall. “So much for witty remarks." She thought as she stumbled to her feet.   
  
“Where is she?" the leader turned to face the Slayer.   
  
Buffy stood in silence, refusing to answer.   
  
“You will bring her to us or you’ll die." He retorted.   
  
“Been there, done that." She said flatly.   
  
Seeing that threatening the Slayer wasn’t enough he turned towards the Scoobies. He motioned in Willow’s direction, and in an instant she was thrown up in the air. As she freefell her face stopped inches from the floor. The leader pointed skywards and Willow flew back up and hovered over all of them at a frightening height.   
  
“Willow!" Tara shouted.   
  
“I’ll ask you once more, bring her to us!" he hissed in anger.   
  
“Let her go." Buffy demanded.   
  
“The girl first."   
  
Buffy reached for the dagger and wave it in front of the masked man.   
  
“Let her go, or the dagger’s history." Buffy ordered with a steady tone.   
  
The man seemed to ponder for a while and then let out a powerful laugh.   
  
“You think you can destroy the Dungherjahar Ashesh?"   
  
“You won’t believe how good I am at breaking stuff." Buffy force a smug grin.   
  
“Grab her." The leader ordered.   
  
In an instant, Buffy was surrounded by three hooded figures. As they tried to hold her down she swung her left leg and her foot connected with one man almost at the same time as her fist knocked the second one out.   
  
Pretty soon, two of the men were unconscious on the floor, which left only one more. He hesitated before lunging at her, they tumbled to the floor and the man landed right on top of the sharp blade.   
  
Buffy gasped as she saw the man slump next to her; the dagger buried deep in his chest.   
  
“You will pay for that." As the leader spoke Willow started to freefall once more and it was clear that this time he wouldn’t stop her.   
  
“Willow!" Xander cried out as he saw his best friend fall to her death.   
  
“Avolare!" Tara chanted and Willow stopped inches from the ground. Buffy sighed in relief.   
  
“A witch!" the leader shouted.   
  
“We prefer Wicca, if you don’t mind!" Tara mocked.   
  
“Get them!" he shouted.   
  
And with that all Hell broke loose.   
  
Fists flew left and right as the sea of hooded men attacked them. Xander desperately tried to keep Anya from getting hurt, swinging his arms at everything that moved.   
  
In the middle of all that pandemonium, It stirred as consciousness returned.   
  
“Ick!" It squealed as he opened his eyes to meet utter darkness.   
  
A lump formed in his throat at the thought of him being back in that godforsaken place, that… nothingness. As his eyes adjusted, he realised that he wasn’t and that the blackness came from the long black cloths that the men around him wore. He wiggled his way between them and was finally met by a very tired Slayer.   
  
In one hand she held the dagger while the other clung to her right arm. From between her short fingers thick drops of blood streamed down to her elbow.   
  
Buffy looked out of the corner of her eyes and realised that they were all in big trouble. There was no way they could fight all of them. She had only one choice – destroy the damn dagger, but how? She didn’t have the strength to break it with her bare hands. She needed some hard surface to smash it against. She looked around but was distracted by an agonizing cry.   
  
She turned around to see Tara surrounded by a bright red light. Her arms were wide open, her head thrown back and an excruciating frown settled on her face. It was clear she was in pain as her whole body jolted every once in a while.   
  
At her feet lay a waking Willow. As realisation washed over the Wicca, Buffy saw her best friend’s eyes turn black and she knew what was to come.   
  
In a blink of an eye, the Slayer crossed the room and was standing next to the cage where the Scoobies had been imprisoned minutes before.   
  
“Willow, no!" she shouted, then she turned her attentions to the man that was causing Tara’s suffering. “Let her go!" she yelled off the top of her lungs.   
  
Everyone turned to see the Slayer. The blade of the dagger she held was now positioned between two of the steal bars that formed the entrance to the confined space.   
  
Silence invaded the room as everyone froze to see what would happen next. Finally the leader’s cool and deep voice was heard:   
  
“If you do that we all die."   
  
“Really?"   
  
“The dagger encloses the powers of the ancient people, if you destroy it’s blade the energy released will be so great that it will cause the walls and ceiling to fall down upon us."   
  
“Let her go." She repeated, breathing heavily.   
  
The leader obeyed and Tara’s limp body was dropped to the floor. Willow immediately crawled her way to the Wicca and cupped her face in her hands.   
  
“Tara… honey? Are you ok?" she asked concerned. To her relief Tara forced her eyes open and nodded. “Oh, thank God!" she sighed covering her lover’s face with soft kisses.   
  
“Anya, Xander, help Willow and take Tara out of here." Buffy ordered, her eyes never leaving the leader’s masked face. “It, go with them and show them the quickest way out."   
  
“What about you Buff?" Xander asked as he helped Tara up.   
  
“Just go, Xander!" Buffy commanded.   
  
“But-“   
  
“Now!" she finally yelled and Xander understood it was best to do as he was told.   
  
He picked Tara’s frail body in his arms and limped his way after It and out of the cave. Anya followed close behind. Willow, though, didn’t move, she stood in her place and glared at the black masked man.   
  
“I’m staying!" she said in a cold voice, wiping away the salty tears that ran down her face.   
  
“No, you’re not! Now go!" Buffy ordered once more.   
  
“I’m not leaving you here!"   
  
“Willow, GO!!!" the Slayer finally shouted, her eyes left the man to look at her best friend. As she saw the hurt and battered Wicca she forced a weak smile on her lips and added: “Please, I’ll be right behind you."   
  
Willow stared at her friend; she could always tell when she was lying.   
  
“I promise…" the Slayer finally whispered.   
  
Slowly, Willow turned around and headed towards the same dark tunnel the others had left before. Before she disappeared in the darkness she gave Buffy one last glance.   
  
“Guess it’s just you and me." She looked around to see the rest of the masked man that still stood behind their leader and added in a mocking tone. “Oh, and you guys of course!"   
  
“You won’t get away with this." The leader shouted and raised his hands in the air.   
  
Buffy frowned when she saw the rest of the groups join in and imitate his movement.   
  
“I call on the dark forces of ancient gods and ancient worlds. I call on the dark forces of ancient gods and ancient worlds. I…" they all started chanting. “Let the veil between this world and the darkness be lifted. Let the darkness prevail, let all lose form and become nothingness."   
  
Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a dark cloud grow over the thick walls and slide it’s way to her. Only then did she realise what the Climes were trying to do. She couldn’t let the cloud approach her or else she would be trapped in limbo and then they would have the dagger. Her mind raced, as she was sure not enough time had passed for the Scoobies to find their way out of those caves. If she broke the blade now they would certainly be trapped amongst the rubble, if she didn’t…   
  
“I call on the Dark Lord Aronh." The leader finally chanted.   
  
“Uh-uh there will be no calling any dark lord." She mocked one last time and pulled at the dagger, forcing its blade to break in two.   
  
In a flash the entire room was lit up as an intense red light emanated from the two pieces of metal that now lay on the floor. The ground started to shake beneath her feet and deep gashes travelled over the walls, splitting them in half. Soon after, the ceiling began to crack also and a rain of stones and rocks fell upon them just as the leader had predicted. She took one last deep breath as she saw a large piece of the ceiling come straight at her. There was no way out.   
  
  
  
Part XVIII - Putting out the Sun   
  
Author's Note: The title comes from Brian Adams' song (which I adore by the way!!!) "When You Love Someone". To understand the title better, heare are the lyrics:   
  
When you love someone, You'll do anything... You'll do all the crazy things that you can't explain, You'll shoot the moon put out the sun..... When you love someone.   
  
You'll deny the truth, Believe a lie... There will be times that you belive you can really fly, But you know that life has just begun when you love someone...   
  
When you love someone you feel it deep inside, And nothing else could ever change your mind... When you love someone,when you need someone,When you love someone...   
  
When you love someone you will sacrifice, You will give everything you got and want think twice... You risk it all no matter what may come, When you love someone...   
  
You'll shoot the moon put out the sun, When you love someone.............   
  
“Xander, watch out!!!!" Willow shouted as she saw a large rock falling inches away from her friend.   
  
He stumbled to the floor taking Tara down with him. As the hard stones poured on them, Xander struggled to scramble to his feet.   
  
“Tara, you ok?" he asked as he reached out his hand to help her up.   
  
She nodded and with a lot of effort stood up. Her strain was evident in her face as she hissed in pain. Realising she wouldn’t be able to walk, let alone run from the avalanche of rocks that was quickly catching up to them, Xander scooped her off her feet and resumed running after It and Anya.   
  
“Fast!" It squealed never looking back.   
  
“Ah!" Anya shouted as some debris grazed her arm, making her lose her balance and fall.   
  
Willow quickly came to her aid, pulling her up and pushing her forward. The Wicca glanced over her shoulder to see Xander with Tara in his arms close behind her.   
  
“We almost there!" It yelled as its scrawny index finger pointed in the direction of a faint ray of moonlight at the far end of the tunnel.   
  
The small creature ran as fast as it could, reaching the exit closely followed by Anya and Willow. The Wicca’s heart raced as she turned around to see the ceiling caving in right behind Xander.   
  
In a last monumental effort, he jumped, propelling Tara’s limp body a few feet away.   
  
“Xander!" Anya screamed, coming to kneel next to the tired young man.   
  
His breathing was erratic and he tried to speak but all that came out of his mouth were sharp gushes of air. So, instead, he just nodded frenetically.   
  
**********************************   
  
“What was that?" Dawn asked as she saw the tunnel she and Spike had just exited cave in.   
  
“I don’t know, bit." The vampire confessed pulling the young teenager away from the entrance, afraid some debris might hurt her.   
  
“Buffy…" Dawn whispered, bringing her hand to her mouth.   
  
“I’m sure she found her way out just in the nick of time. That’s what she does best, she’s a hero remember?" Spike tried to force a smile on his lips, but deep inside he felt something break.   
  
Something about this moment reminded him of that dreadful night where he had to stand and watch her… fall to her death.   
  
*****************************************   
  
“Tara, honey, are you hurt?" Willow asked concerned, brushing her lover’s hair away from her face.   
  
Tara smiled and nodded.   
  
“They’re you guys are, I was afraid you were trapped under the rubble." Dawn sighed in relief bringing her arms around Xander’s bruised neck. He hissed in pain but didn’t protest. It was good to see that little Dawnie was safe.   
  
Spike kept his distance as he scanned the perimeter for the Slayer. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he realised she wasn’t there. He swallowed hard before asking:   
  
“Where’s the Slayer?"   
  
Everyone’s eyes became dark and sad, none of them wanting to say what had happen. Dawn unwrapped her arms from Xander’s neck and looked straight at him.   
  
“Where’s Buffy, Xander?"   
  
The young man’s gaze was buried in the grass under his feet.   
  
“She didn’t make it, Dawnie…" he whispered, running his fingers through the girl’s hair.   
  
“What do you mean?" Dawn asked in disbelief.   
  
“She stayed behind and she wasn’t able to get out in time." Willow said in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the ground as well. She couldn’t face the look of hurt in Dawn’s glazed eyes.   
  
“Bollocks! She’s the Slayer, super-strength and all, people. A little rock is no match for her." Spike refused to believe what they were telling him.   
  
“All the tunnels caved in, there was no way out." Xander insisted.   
  
“Fine! You stay here and plan her funeral once more, I’ll go in there and help her out! She’s had to dig her way out of her grave once, I’m not about to let her have to go through that again!" Spike scuffed walking away.   
  
“How are you even going in there? Everything caved in!" Xander shouted after him.   
  
“I’ll find my way." Spike answered never stopping or looking back.   
  
“I’m going with you." Dawn said running after the vampire.   
  
“Dawn, you can’t you’ll get hurt." Xander protested running after the young teenager.   
  
“I don’t care, she’s my sister and I-“   
  
“Little bit, listen to me." Spike cut her off, pushing a strand of tussled hair behind Dawn’s small ear. “I don’t much care for the whelp here, but I must admit that, this time, he’s right. You better stay behind."   
  
“But-“   
  
“I’ll bring her back, I promise." He whispered, placing a soft kiss on her forehead and walking away.   
  
****************************************   
  
“BUFFY!!!!" Spike yelled off the top of his lungs for the 100th time that night. His voice was hoarse and his body begged for a much-needed cup of warm blood and a peaceful hour of sleep, but yet he continued his search relentlessly.   
  
He had been digging for hours with his our hands and nothing. He hadn’t been able to find a way under the rubble. He looked up at the sky. The sun threatened to rear its ugly beams as the deep blue of the heavens gave into a fiery yellow.   
  
“Buffy!!" he was getting frustrated and kicked a rock that stood at his feet.   
  
To his amazement, the stone moved to reveal a small entrance to the underground. With newfound hope, he crawled his way through the small opening.   
  
As he landed on the floor and his eyes adjusted to the darkness he realised he was in yet another poorly illuminated tunnel. To his left the ceiling had caved in, which made his choice quite easy. “I guess I’ll take right, for 100." He joked to himself.   
  
He walked quickly along the frail tunnel, which threatened to fall at any second when a familiar smell invaded his nostrils. “Blood!" he thought out loud.   
  
Instinctively, his game face overcame his soft human features as he sniffed the air, trying to pinpoint where the scent came from. The moment he realised it came from the far end of the tunnel he increased his pace and eventually ended up running, until he reached a dead end. The ceiling had also caved in at this side of the passageway.   
  
“Bugger!" he cursed under his breath when suddenly another familiar aroma caused his nostrils to flare up. “Mango." He breathed.   
  
It was Buffy’s new perfume, the one that had intoxicated him just days ago in her kitchen. He closed his eyes as the images of her in that sundress, leaning against the fridge and batting her long eyelashes at him flashed in front of his eyes. That seemed so long ago, a lifetime ago.   
  
He shook away the memory and concentrated on figuring his way around the barrier of rubble that separated him from his Slayer. Silently, he thanked whatever gods the fact that he was a vampire. Without his enhanced smelling ability he would have never have found her.   
  
He examined the rocks in front of him and tried to move one. When he did, the entire wall of debris growled in protest. He immediately retracted his hand and put aside the idea of digging his was through the wreckage.   
  
“Ah…" he heard a strangled cry from the other side of the wall.   
  
“Buffy?" he breathed recognizing the Slayer’s voice. “Buffy!" This time he shouted.   
  
Uncontrolled and ignoring the roaring and threats of the tunnel around him, he began to move the rocks in front of him at a frenetic pace until he had dug a small hole in the wall. He squeezed his way through it and was now in another compartment.   
  
It was pitch dark and he couldn’t see anything, even with his game face on. He had no choice but to rely on his vampire instincts. He smelled the thick air in the room and soon he could pinpoint the exact spot where the Slayer was. He stumbled his way to her, falling over a few dead bodies on his way. As he approached her, he could hear her weak and shallow breathing. His blindly outstretched hands landed on the Slayer’s arms. Spike heard her moan in pain as his fingers connected with a thick liquid that covered her skin. He didn’t need to resort to his vampire instincts to understand that it was blood.   
  
“Buffy…" he whispered as his hand sightlessly travelled up her shoulder, pass her neck and rested over her cheek. “Buffy!" he insisted when she didn’t answer.   
  
Suddenly the room restarted its roaring. It was clear that because of the opening he had dug, the wall would soon give in and collapse.   
  
“Buffy, wake up. We have to go." He pushed her gently, trying to bring her back to reality, but she simply moaned.   
  
Seeing he had no choice, he slid his arms under her neck and her knees and scooped her up. Slowly he moved through the piles of bodies scattered across the floor of the room and reached the small passageway.   
  
“Buffy, you gotta wake up now, pet." He called once more. There was no way he could simply push her body through the narrow hole.   
  
The wall growled once more and Spike felt his heart nearly jump out of his chest.   
  
“Buffy…" he paused to push back the tears. “I need you to wake up, luv!" he begged, lightly patting his fingers over her cheek.   
  
No answer.   
  
He took a deep breath and whispered:   
  
“Come on, Goldilocks!"   
  
At the sound of her pet name, Buffy stirred.   
  
“That’s it, wake up. Come on, I need you to stay with me, just for a second." The vampire encouraged the weak girl.   
  
“Spike?" she spoke in a faltering voice.   
  
“I’m here."   
  
“I-I… Where am I?"   
  
Spike didn’t have time to answer as the sound of rocks falling inside the compartment was heard.   
  
“I’ll explain later. Now I need you to go through this passage."   
  
Buffy frowned and stared at the place where his voice came from. It was pitch black in the entire room, except for a dim light coming from a small hole in the wall. She felt someone push her in the direction of the brightness and she forced her tired body to creep and crawl its way to it. When she reached it, she pulled herself up and squeezed herself through the small passage.   
  
The moment she reached the other side she slumped to the floor and lost consciousness once more. Spike quickly followed her out of the cave and was met by the gruelling sight of a badly bruised and thrashed Slayer. He swallowed hard as he noticed the deep gash in her arm, from which thick blood still pooled down to her shoulder. Her jeans were also bathed in the red liquid and Spike questioned himself if it all came from her arm or if she had yet another wound in her legs.   
  
His eyes then travelled to her sweet face and what he saw made him catch an unneeded breath. She had a long cut that ran along her forehead and stopped inches away from her right eyes.   
  
He stood there and contemplated her for a while until he noticed her heartbeat slowdown to a frightening pace. She had lost too much blood, he had to take her to a hospital as soon as possible. Unceremoniously, he picked her up once more and ran down the tunnel. His game face came forth to help him see in the dim light.   
  
Finally he reached the small opening he had weaselled his way through minutes before. He caught his breath when he saw a bright ray of sunlight shine through the entrance. He fell to his knees in desperation, the tears now ran freely down his soft and marbled skin as he looked upon an unconscious Buffy in his arms.   
  
It was now his turn to curse the gods for his demonic nature. There was nothing he could do. If he tried to get her through the opening he would be dust and she wouldn’t have anyone to take her to the hospital. If he stayed there and waited for night to fall she would probably die.   
  
The thought of loosing her brought a terrible numbness to his entire body. In a second, all the moments he had spent mourning her death that terrible summer assaulted him. He couldn’t go through that again. He couldn’t lose her, not again.   
  
“Buffy… Luv… you have to wake up again." He begged her, running his index finger over her cheekbones.   
  
She stirred slowly, but didn’t open her eyes.   
  
“Buffy…" he whispered bringing his lips to rest on her forehead and squeezing his eyes tightly shut as the numbness disappeared and desperation and pain settled in. He felt his throat tighten as he realised how cold her skin was.   
  
“Spike…" she breathed quietly.   
  
He was startled by the sound of her voice.   
  
“Hey there…" he greeted her with a forced smile.   
  
“What’s wrong?" she asked as she saw the tears streaming down his face. “Dawn!"   
  
She called out and tried to stand up. He pulled her close and reassured her:   
  
“She’s fine. She’s with Xander and the others. The-They’re all ok." He paused, trying to push down the lump in his throat and then continued with the same fake joy: “I guess you saved the world once again."   
  
Buffy smiled weakly and let her heavy eyelids fall for a while before opening them once more.   
  
“That’s me, hero-gall." Her voice was weak and it was clear time was running out.   
  
As the thought sank in, a new wave of tears came flooding down his face.   
  
“Spike…" she whispered, her eyes closed once more. “I’m so tired."   
  
“I know luv." He forced the words out between sobs.   
  
She opened her eyes to look at him, she knew what was to come.   
  
“I’m sorry." She breathed.   
  
“What for?" he asked a bit startled.   
  
“I should h-have…" she took one deep breath and tried hard to keep from drifting into sleep. “told you."   
  
“What, pet?" he ran his hands through her hair as he waited for her to speak.   
  
“I-I…" her eyelids became to heavy to keep open, but she forced them up anyway. “I miss you…" she paused and them continued: “…when you’re not there… I miss you."   
  
Spike sat there in silence as his heart was tossed around between utter joy and heart wrenching pain.   
  
In one last effort, she brought her hand to rest of his cheek and stared up at him: “I’ll miss you’re face." She breathed and smiled one last time as darkness finally took over her and her hand fell lifeless over her chest.   
  
“No, Buffy, please don’t!" he cried out as the sound of her heartbeat faded and her body became limp and inert. “Luv, please wake up." Sob. “Please, I can’t go through this again." Sob. “Not again. Please don’t go."   
  
She lay motionless in his arms, her chest no longer rising and falling, her body like a dead carcass.   
  
“Buffy!" he cried out in desperation as he saw her slip away.   
  
  
  
Part XIX - Islands of Hope   
  
Author's Note: First off, let me thank all of you who reviewed this story as you read it. I really appreciate it. It really helps to get me out of those write's blockage!!! THANKS YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!!!!   
  
Second - The title once more comes from a song. This time it's Sarah McLachlan's I Love You: Love You   
  
I have a smile stretched from ear to ear to see you walking down the road   
  
we meet at the lights I stare for a while the world around disappears   
  
just you and me on this island of hope a breath between us could be miles   
  
let me surround you my sea to your shore let me be the calm you seek   
  
oh and every time I'm close to you there's too much I can't say and you just walk away   
  
and I forgot to tell you I love you and the night's too long and cold here without you I grieve in my condition for I cannot find the strength to say I need you so   
  
oh and every time I'm close to you there's too much I can't say and you just walk away   
  
and I forgot to tell you I love you and the night's too long and cold here without you   
  
Spike was snapped out of his suffering by the sound of his name. It started out as a faint whisper and it gradually grew into a strangled cry.   
  
“The whelp." Spike finally identified the voice.   
  
“Xander!" he shouted. “Down here!"   
  
“Spike, are you in there?" Xander’s voice came from the opening.   
  
The vampire’s fingers immediately came to rest on Buffy’s neck. He waited a second and… there it was! A weak and almost imperceptible pulse, but it was there. Carefully, he stood up, lifting Buffy’s limp body.   
  
“Xander, I’ve got Buffy, but she’s hurt pretty bad. You need to get her to a hospital." Spike explained. “I’ll push her up, but you’ll have to pull her."   
  
“Ok." Xander promptly agreed outstretching his arms.   
  
Soon enough he felt something at the tip of his fingers. He identified it as Buffy’s wrists as he grabbed a hold of them and pulled her up. When she was safely out of the tunnels Xander brought his hand down once more offering it to Spike.   
  
Skulking in the shadows, Spike felt a pang in his chest. He swallowed hard before speaking.   
  
“I can’t go." He paused. “The sunlight."   
  
“Oh." Xander realised retracting his hand.   
  
“Take her to the hospital." Spike order weakly.   
  
He heard the shuffle of feet and added: “Something happens to her, I’ll come for you. Chip or no chip."   
  
Xander nodded, even though he knew the vampire couldn’t see him.   
  
Underground, Spike sighed and secretly prayed the whelp could get her to help in time.   
  
***************************************   
  
Buffy squinted as the artificial light burned her sensitive eyes.   
  
“Hey, Buffester!"   
  
She heard Xander’s familiar voice and forced her eyes to focus. Various smiling faces greeted her.   
  
“Buffy?" Dawn whispered.   
  
Buffy turned to see her sister sitting on the right side of the bed. She tried to reach for her, but an excruciating pain, coming from her arm, travelled at lightning speed through her entire body.   
  
“Don’t move, you still haven’t completely recovered from that arm." Dawn explained.   
  
Buffy smiled, it was good to have her sister boss her around for a change. Slowly, everyone approached the bed and the Slayer was able to recognise their faces.   
  
“Hey." Willow greeted.   
  
Behind the Wicca, at the foot of the bed, stood Tara, smiling sweetly. To the Slayer’s left, closer to her stood Anya and Xander.   
  
“How long have I been out?" Buffy finally asked.   
  
“Three days." Anya promptly answered.   
  
“There goes my job at the DP." The Slayer protested with a light smile.   
  
“Don’t worry, we called in and said we would replace you, free of charge, as long as they let you keep you’re job when you got better." Willow said proudly.   
  
“Thanks, Willow, you’re the greatest."   
  
“You’re welcome."   
  
“The doctors are really amazed at your recovery. They say you’ll be out in a couple of days." Dawn told her sister with a huge smile.   
  
“Gotta love those Slayer healing powers." Buffy joked, but the strain of laughing brought on another surge of pain.   
  
A knock at the door was heard and a woman dressed in white and wearing a stethoscope around her neck entered.   
  
“So how’s my super patient doing? Awake, I see." The woman smiled and made her way to the bed. “Hi, I’m Dr. Katherine Ballard."   
  
“Hey." Buffy greeted.   
  
“How are you feeling?"   
  
“I feel a little light headed." She complained.   
  
“That’s normal. You lost a lot of blood and along with the drugs for the pain in your arm it’ll make you kinda woozy. Don’t worry, it’ll pass." She smiled and then turned to the rest of the people in the room and continued: “Well you guys, I think it’s best to let Miss Summers rest for a while, don’t you."   
  
Everyone nodded and started saying their goodbyes.   
  
“We’ll see you tomorrow, Buffy." Dawn said before closing the door behind her.   
  
*************************************   
  
Buffy paced around the living room; her hand rested of her still sore right arm. On the couch, It entertained himself by closely following the Slayer’s moves, which meant he just sat there moving only his neck from left to right. His eyes never left her figure, not even when a knock on the door was heard.   
  
“Hey, Dawnie!" Anya greeted handing the young teenager a bottle of red wine.   
  
“Hey, Anya!" Dawn replied as she gave Xander a quick peck on the cheek.   
  
“Man, it’s cold out here." Willow said as she followed Xander and Anya into the house.   
  
“I know. It doesn’t even seem like Summer, huh?" Dawn chatted taking Tara’s coat and hanging it up in the closet.   
  
“How’s she doing?" Willow asked politely.   
  
“Apparently trying to dig a whole in the living room floor." Xander joked, not giving Dawn a chance to answer.   
  
“She’s been doing that since we came back from the hospital." Dawn whispered.   
  
“Huh?" suddenly Buffy seemed to snap out of her trance.   
  
“Nothing. Just saying that - big circle in your living room floor" Xander pointed to the floor under Buffy’s feet and continued “could always become a fashion statement. You never know." He smiled seeing the confused look on his friend’s face and decided to let the subject go. “So, how’s my favourite hero doing?"   
  
“Fine. I’m still a bit knackered though." Buffy answered.   
  
“Knackered? Since when do you say knackered?" Xander asked.   
  
Before she could answer, Dawn intervened, seeing her sister’s face become bright red.   
  
“Xander, could you come to the bathroom with me? We seem to have some trouble with the plumbing again."   
  
“Sure." The man replied following the young teenager up the stairs.   
  
Buffy sighed in relief and resumed walking around in circles.   
  
“Pleeeease, stop. It feel sick." It protested as his eyes pointed to the bridge of his nose and his tongue hung loosely out of his mouth.   
  
“No one forced you to look at me all the time." Buffy suddenly snapped.   
  
It immediately curled up into a little ball at the sound and sight of the angry Slayer.   
  
“Sorry." It squealed.   
  
Buffy ignored the demon and turned to Willow.   
  
“So, ready for the celebration dinner?" she forced a smile on her face and moved towards the kitchen.   
  
“Are you ok?" Willow asked her best friend as they followed Tara and Anya.   
  
“I’m fine." She answered weakly.   
  
Willow decided it was best to let the subject go, but it was clear that something bothered her best friend.   
  
*****************************************   
  
“Don’t forget the napkins." Anya shouted as she sat at the dinning room table.   
  
“This looks…" Xander searched his mind for a euphemism, but when he failed to find one he settled for a big lie. “… great."   
  
“Really, really…" Willow stared at her plate. “…great."   
  
The Wicca was still trying to figure out what the mush displayed in front of her was. “It looks like fish, smells like meat and…" she ran her fork through the food and finished her thought. “has the texture and feel of a slug." She swallowed hard at the idea that pretty soon she would have to eat that.   
  
Tara was the first, brave enough to bring a piece of the food to her mouth. She soon cursed her valour as the most painful taste ever took over her tongue.   
  
Everyone watched as she turned bright red and her eyes became glassy with tears.   
  
“Hum…" she paused before she forced the lump of food pass her throat. “Yummy!"   
  
Willow smiled compassionately at her lover before speaking:   
  
“Where did you learn to cook, Dawn?"   
  
“Janice has been teaching me." The young teenager answered with a huge grin on her lips.   
  
“Arg... This is horri- ouch!" Anya started as she spat out the food back into her plate and Xander instinctively kicked her under the table. “Xander why did you kick me?" the ex-demon asked completely unaware of the situation around her.   
  
“Honey, remember what we talked about manners?" the young man asked with a crooked smile.   
  
Anya simply pouted and murmured under her breath something unintelligible.   
  
“Buffy, you haven’t eaten a thing. Dr. Ballard said you should eat." Dawn fell into her mother/nurse role when she saw the distant look in her sister’s eyes.   
  
“I’m not hungry."   
  
“More!" It shouted as he finished licking his plate. “It want more!"   
  
“Hey, he likes it!" Dawn noticed joyfully.   
  
“More, more, more! Moooooooooooore!" It continued to bark as he simultaneously banged the plate on the table.   
  
“It, stop that!" Buffy screamed.   
  
An uncomfortable silence invaded the room as everyone turned to look at the angry Slayer.   
  
“I’m sorry, guys!" she spoke in a calmer tone. “I’m just a bit tired. I think I’ll go to bed. Goodnight." She stood up and jogged up the stairs.   
  
“Why doe she get to leave and not eat this-?" Anya started annoyed.   
  
“Anya!" Xander protested.   
  
****************************************   
  
Buffy closed the door to her bedroom behind her and let her body slump down to the floor. Curled into the foetal position, she rested her forehead on her bony knees.   
  
“Why do I care?" she asked herself banging her head on the door.   
  
She sighed and stood up, walking towards the bed. She squeezed her eyes shut as images of Spike’s marbled face staring down on her assaulted her mind. She had only dim memories of what had happen after the ceiling caved in on her.   
  
She remembered being called by her pet name, opening her eyes to meet utter darkness but strangely enough not feeling scared, just tired and sleepy. The second time her heavy eyelids lifted she saw him. His face was marred and nearly disfigured with pain as tears streamed down his white, pale cheeks.   
  
“I’ll miss you’re face." She had whispered before closing her eyes and the last thing she heard was her name being called out, as Spike’s grip on her tightened.   
  
“No, Buffy, please don’t! Luv, please wake up. Please, I can’t go through this again. Not again. Please don’t go…"   
  
Buffy squeezed her eyes shut once more as she felt her stomach turn and her throat tighten. She shook the thoughts away and prepared to go to bed when she heard a crack coming from the hall.   
  
She walked over to the door and opened it only to find two large eyes staring up at her in fear.   
  
“Why are you following me, It?" she tried to speak calmly.   
  
It spread his mouth wide open in a frustrated attempt of a smile.   
  
“It?" she threatened.   
  
“Sorry!" he begged. “Me no tell."   
  
“It!" this time the small creature knew it was in trouble.   
  
“Bad vampire tell It - Follow Slayer." He squealed immediately.   
  
“What?" she asked incredulous.   
  
“He say he want to know if Slayer no more pain."   
  
It took a few second for Buffy to translate and incorporate the information, but when the meaning of the demon’s words sunk in she found her blood start to boil.   
  
“That… God, I’m killing him." She said to herself as she stormed down the stairs and out the door, completely ignoring her friends’ questions.   
  
***********************************************   
  
“What the HELL were you thinking?" her voice echoed through the crypt as the door slammed behind her and she made her way to the lower level.   
  
“Hum…?" Spike mumbled as her shouting woke him from a deep sleep. “Slayer?" he squinted.   
  
“What’s your idea of sending your, your… ET to spy on me?" she was still yelling when she reached him.   
  
He was sprawled on the bed, naked, with only a thin sheet covering him up to his waist.   
  
“What? Huh?" he hadn’t quite woken up yet. “What are you yapping about, woman."   
  
“It. Spying. On me. Under your order." She said pointedly.   
  
“Oh!" he murmured sitting up and rubbing his eyes.   
  
“I almost bleed to death, you don’t even bother visiting me at the hospital but you send a slimy, skinny annoying little… thing after me? Is that it?" her eyes were flaming red, her face flushed in anger.   
  
“I thought you didn’t want to see me. I thought that was the agreement.   
  
“What agreement?" she asked as a frown settled over her eyes.   
  
“You, me, wrong. Remember?" his finger travelled between him and her as he spoke. She was about to speak, but he cut her off. “Don’t worry, I’m not telling any of your chums about us."   
  
She exhaled sharply; why did everything always have to be so hard around him?   
  
“It’s complicated." She sighed.   
  
“Oh, I know. EVERYTHING is ALWAYS complicated, innit?" he could feel the anger start to grow in his chest.   
  
“I can’t be with you." She said in a soft voice.   
  
“WHY NOT?" he shouted, standing and wrapping the white sheet around his waist.   
  
“Because…" she searched for the reasons, which was gradually becoming harder with his proximity. “Because when I’m around you I’m not the Slayer."   
  
“What are you talking about?"   
  
“I’m around you and I make mistakes because of it. And I can’t protect Dawn anymore."   
  
“So now you’re saying that losing Dawn was my fault, is that it?" he asked annoyed.   
  
“No." she answered promptly. “It’s just…" she struggled with the words. “I can’t concentrate; you’re always yammering and annoying me. I lose track of my goals. I’m with you and suddenly I’m fraternizing with… with… I play poker with a demon with a skin condition. For Christ’s sake, Dawn now wants a Khind’Ara demon as a pet." She shouted.   
  
“It’s staying with you guys?" he asked curious.   
  
“That’s not the point." She retorted angrily. “You come into my life and you turn everything upside-down. Suddenly not all demons are slayable, they’re… they’re friends."   
  
“I just showed you the world’s not black and white. There’s always grey in the middle." He spoke calmly.   
  
“I don’t LIKE grey." She shouted to his face. “I like white on this side and black on that one. No mixing. Slayer good, demon bad, Slayer kill demon." She paused to take in a much needed breath and continued with her ranting, walking around in circles in front of him. “YOU made things complicated." She pointed angrily at him. “You come in with your smug grin and everything goes – BOOM – just when I’ve just figured out where everything fits." she waved her arms around like a mad man.   
  
“All of that is my doing?"   
  
“Yes."   
  
“Why don’t you pin global warming on me while you’re at it." He mocked.   
  
“See!" she stopped circling and pointed an accusing finger straight in his face. “There! You did it again! You just think that everything is a big joke to you."   
  
“What did I do?" he asked incredulously.   
  
“You SAVED me, that’s what!!!" she barked. “Why did you do it?"   
  
“Cause I’m bloody in love with you. I’ve told you that a million times. Bugger!" he yelled back.   
  
“You’re a VAMPIRE, Spike! You’re not supposed to love anything!"   
  
“Well, I do!"   
  
She paused for a while before continuing the argument: “I really hate you." She hissed. “I hate you for saving me, for keeping your promise and protecting Dawn, for listening to me when I came back, for ever kissing me back." She exhaled sharply and continued shouting at a frightening rhythm. “I hate for being a vampire with a damned chip in your head, for not leaving, for coming back for me-“   
  
“That’s gratitude." He cut her off.   
  
“Shut up, Spike!" she demanded. “I hate you because… because…" she struggled with the lump in her throat.   
  
“What?"   
  
“Because I’m in LOVE with you, DAMN IT!" She blurted out.   
  
  
  
Part XX - Nothing's wrong... finally!   
  
Author's Note: Well, here's the final chapter of Inhuman Heart! FINALLY! Thanks you guys who patiently waited and who reviewed my work, I really, really appreciate it! You guys are amazing!   
  
They stood there in silence, staring at each other, none of them daring to speak.   
  
“I better go." Buffy suddenly uttered, nervously looking around the room, finally turning on her heels and making her way towards the stairs with ground-eating steps.   
  
“Buffy. Wait, Stop." Spike snapped out of his trance. He tried to follow her but the sheet kept getting in his way and eventually he fell on the floor.   
  
************************************   
  
Buffy ran as fast as her legs could carry her out of that cemetery. Reaching her from porch, she fiddled with the keys as she desperately tried to fit them into the keyhole. Eventually Dawn came to her aid as she opened the door.   
  
“Buffy, where were you? We were worried sick about you."   
  
Buffy completely ignored her sister’s question and made her way up the stairs, taking three steps at a time.   
  
“What’s gotten into her?" Xander asked scratching his head.   
  
She slammed the door behind her and started walking around in circled in front of her bed.   
  
“Oh my God, I said it!" she thought out loud. “I said it. I can’t believe I said it."   
  
She could feel her heart racing in her chest, her breathing was erratic and she anxiously snapped her fingers against the palm of her cold hand.   
  
“Where is she?" Spike asked as he came in the house.   
  
“What did you do to her?" Xander immediately stepped in.   
  
Spike ignored him and started to make his way up the stairs when the young man blocked his passage.   
  
“You’re not going anywhere." Xander spoke arrogantly.   
  
“If you don’t get your ugly mug out of my face I swear I’ll bash your teeth in." Spike hissed, but Xander didn’t give any sign of backing down. “Whelp, I’m warning you."   
  
“I don’t know what you did to her, but I’m not letting you hurt her anymore."   
  
“Hurt her? I’m in love with her, you bleeding brainless twit." Spike replied angrily.   
  
“Ha! In love with her." Xander laughed out loud. “You-“ he wasn’t able to finish his sentence as Spike’s fist connected with his face.   
  
“Ouch!" the young man cried out in pain as his hand rested on his bleeding nose.   
  
Spike was so wound up he barely felt the jolt of pain that came from the chip in the back of his head as he continued his way up the stairs.   
  
“Willow, do something." Xander protested. When the Wicca didn’t move he turned to Dawn, but the young teenager simply crossed her arms, raised her chin and said nonchalantly:   
  
“Don’t look at me, you’ve been asking for it, buddy."   
  
********************************************   
  
Buffy jumped up as the door to her bedroom burst open. In front of her stood Spike; his hair tussled and his chest rising and falling at an even more frenetic pace than her own.   
  
“Buffy…" he finally whispered taking a step towards her.   
  
She responded by taking one back.   
  
“Buffy…" he breathed again. One more step and she moved closer to bed, away from him. “We…" he couldn’t even form a straight sentence as her words still echoed in his head and in his ears.   
  
“Spike…" she struggled with the words, taking a deep breath.   
  
“Luv, we need to talk." He was able to say closing the distance between them.   
  
“There is no- ouch!" as she tried to move away she stumbled at the edge of her bed and nearly fell flat on the floor. Nervously, she straightened her clothes, frenetically running her hands over them. “There’s nothing to talk about!" she stated matter-of-factly, praying he would just let the subject go.   
  
“What?! What do you mean ‘there’s nothing to talk about’? Buffy, you said you-“   
  
“I didn’t say anything. I-I was…" she searched her mind and finally came up with an excuse. “confused and-and angry."   
  
Spike stared at her in disbelief.   
  
“Can you just forget about it?" she tilted her head slightly to the side staring at him with pleading eyes.   
  
“Forget it?! You can’t just say what you said and expect me to forget about." It took all of his strength no to close the distance between them, grab her and kiss her.   
  
“Why not?" she pouted, frenetically trying to hide her shaking hands from him.   
  
“Why?!" he repeated astonished. “Because… Bec-Because you… Do you have any idea of how many times I’ve dreamt about this? Do you?"   
  
“I have to think about this. I-I can’t th-think w-when you’re too close." She stuttered nervously outstretching her arm took keep the distance between them, but when she realized how much she was shaking she immediately recoiled it placing her hand on her forehead. “I-I can’t do… I c-can’t… DAMMIT!" she yelled frustrated at her jumpiness. “I can’t do this right now, Spike."   
  
She stood and looked at him, her mind racing and her heart pounding against the walls of her chest. In the air, the only thing that cut the silence were the shallow and short gulps of air coming from both of them.   
  
“I’m sorry." She finally whispered.   
  
Spike’s face fell as he listened to her. For some strange reason he felt he the need to breathe, but couldn’t as someone tightly clutched his chest.   
  
“What?" he finally managed to ask.   
  
“I-I… Why are you making this so hard?" she cried out, stomping her right foot on the wooden floor.   
  
“Fine! I’ll make it easier. Tell me you don’t love me." He ordered. He stared at her with maddening pain and desperation in his eyes.   
  
“I-“ she started to speak but he cut her off.   
  
“Tell me you don’t love me and I’ll leave. I’ll leave your house, this city; I’ll even leave the bloody country if you want. Just say it!" he cried out with a faltering voice as he waved his arms around.   
  
Silence crept around them once more but Spike soon broke it with a whisper:   
  
“It’s the only way you’ll ever get me out of this room. I’ll leave if you tell me you don’t love me." He stared at her like a defendant awaiting the sentence that will change his life.   
  
“I…" she breathed, preparing herself but when the words came out of her mouth there was no sign of hesitation. “I don’t!"   
  
He stood there, his eyes blank, a sense of numbness taking over him. But it didn’t last, soon an excruciating pain that started in his gut and gradually spread all over him replaced it. Centuries went by before he could get his body to obey his command. He pressed his lips together and gave her a slight nod. All his efforts focused on not allowing the tears that welled up in his eyes to stream down his face as he turned around to leave.   
  
She felt a pang in her chest as she saw him turn to leave. In a blink of an eye she was in front of him blocking his passage.   
  
“No!"   
  
“Buffy, I can’t be around you anymore!" he tried to speak calmly but failed miserably at it as anger and pain seeped into his voice and the tears rolled down his chiselled face. “Just hurts too much, I-“   
  
“I don’t…" she tried to explain what she had meant looking up at him. “…want you to leave."   
  
He stared at her and was about to speak but she stopped him, bringing her mouth to his. He was stunned for a second, but at the feel of her body crushed against his and her wet tongue running across the edge of his lips he gave into the powerful turmoil of emotion that the kiss turned inside him.   
  
The kissing intensified as hands came into play. Spike ran his fingers over her shoulder, down her naked arms until they rested softly on her waist. There he tugged at the shirt, pulling it out of her jeans and snaking his hand under the cotton fabric. The tips of his long finger hover over the sensitive skin around her navel and a giggle escaped the Slayer’s lips. He continued teasing her and she was forced to bring her hand over his.   
  
“That tickles." She breathed; a babyish smile dancing on her lips as she rested her forehead on his cool lips.   
  
Her hands abandoned his and travelled the small space between their bodies to play with the buttons of his shirt. She looked up into his eyes as she began to undress him. In seconds the red fabric was on the floor and she turned her attention to the tight black t-shirt that covered his chest.   
  
****************************************   
  
“You guys are just gonna sit down here and continued playing Scrabble like nothing’s happening?" Xander asked in disbelief, looking at the four women and the funny looking demon that sat around the table.   
  
“That’s the plan." Willow shrugged.   
  
“Me eat piece now?" It begged looking at Dawn wide-eyed.   
  
“No, It! You can’t eat them." Dawn told him for the fifth time that night and It inevitably pouted.   
  
“You guys are unbelievable. I’m going up there." Xander protested stomping out of the room.   
  
“Xander Harris, you take one more step towards those stairs and your nose won’t be the only thing bleeding!" Anya warned him, her eyes never leaving the small square pieces in front of her.   
  
Xander stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face his ex-demon.   
  
“I’m Buffy’s friend, I’m-“ he started but Tara cut him off.   
  
“Annoying!"   
  
Everyone stopped and turned to look at the Wicca.   
  
“What? It’s my word." She explained setting the pieces on the cardboard with an unusual wicked smile.   
  
*****************************************   
  
“Ah!" Buffy moaned as he sluggishly traced the edge of her panties. She opened her eyes to see him hovering naked over her.   
  
His index finger moved over her leg and dove into the valley between her thighs, but refused to breach the sanctity of her underwear. With a feather-like touch, he moved over the damp cotton fabric.   
  
She bucked her hips towards his hands in a desperate attempt to increase the pressure and to her amazement he didn’t pull back. The connection between his fingers and her swollen clit sent a shock of electricity through her entire body.   
  
“Ah!" she cried out.   
  
He smiled at her. It never ceased to amaze him the effect he had on her and he wondered why it had taken her so long to realise they were meant to be.   
  
Without warning, he pushed her panties aside and slid one long finger into her heat.   
  
Her eyes popped open and she was about to say something, but when she felt him move in and out of her she lost all ability to speak and all she could do was moan and thrust her hips into his hand.   
  
Never stopping his ministrations, his bent down and plundered her mouth. With every bit as much intensity and hunger she responded, prying his lips apart with her tongue to explore.   
  
Instinctively, her hand found the dark nest of curls between his legs and she wrapped her long fingers around his swollen member.   
  
“God!" Spike breathed into her mouth.   
  
He could feel her lips against his mouth curling up into a cocky smile. He broke the kiss and looked at her.   
  
“Tease!" the word barely escaped his lips as she moved her small hand up and down his cock at a steady rhythm. “Ah!"   
  
Knowing he was close, he reluctantly pushed her hand away from him and travelled down her body, bringing with him the last item of clothing she had on. When he reached her calves, he reversed direction and began trailing soft kisses up her leg, her dimpled knees and her outer thigh.   
  
Buffy’s breathing came in quick and short pants as anticipation took over her senses. With her eyes tightly shut, she could feel every soft peck he placed on her leg as he moved to the inside of her thigh. He was taking too long and she decided he needed a little encouragement, so she entangled her finger in his tussled hair and pulled him towards her centre. He obeyed and his lips now grazed over her soaked lower lips. Gently he pushed her legs apart and cupped her cheeks to gain better access and then he waited.   
  
Buffy pried her eyes open and looked down on him. Between her legs, hovering just a bit over her dark curls was his bleached head, his gazed falling on her face. The sight of him in that position only served to heighten her desire and she found herself begging him: “Please… Please…"   
  
“Tell me what you want." He whispered. The cold hair coming fro his lips grazed over her soaked lips and it sent a bolt of electricity over her entire body. She arched her back off the mattress and pushed his face towards her aching centre, but this time he didn’t budge and he repeated: “Tell me what you want, luv."   
  
“I-I want you…" she breathed looking down on him.   
  
“You want me to what, pet?" he teased.   
  
“You know what I want, Spike…"   
  
“Enlighten me." He continued to provoke her.   
  
“I-I can’t say it…" she pouted.   
  
“You don’t say it, I won’t do it." He looked up at her. God, she looked gorgeous from that point of view. Two lustful eyes looking down on him between two perfectly shaped breasts. He didn’t know how long he could keep teasing her like this.   
  
“I want you… Spike, please don’t make me say it." She begged, but when she saw the determination in his eyes she knew she had no choice. “I want you to… kiss me… down there."   
  
“Smart chit, but you’re not getting off that easy." He thought to himself and leaned into her and gave her a quick peck on her outer lips.   
  
Buffy groaned in protest.   
  
“Spike, please."   
  
“You said a kiss, I gave you one, luv." A devilish smile crept over his lips.   
  
“I want you to…" “God, I can’t believe I’m saying this" “…lick me… down there."   
  
“That’s my girl." Was the last thing she heard him say, even if he had said anything else she wouldn’t have heard it, she was lost in ecstasy as his mouth ravaged her hot centre.   
  
After tracing her tortuous contours of her lips he focussed all his ministrations on her clit. First curling his tongue around it, then lightly nibbling it and finally sucking in into his mouth as his tongue quickly ran over the swollen bud of nerves.   
  
Buffy shut her eyes, arching her back off the mattress, violently thrusting her hips into his face as an intense orgasm seemed to consume her. With her head thrown back, her hands frantically searched for something to grab a hold of and finally they settled on the sheet that covered her bed. She pulled at the white fabric with all her might as a series of waves washed over her. It seemed to take forever, but eventually she came down from her moment of pure bliss and when she finally opened her eyes she saw his beautiful face hovering over her.   
  
He reached out his hand, cupping her jaw and lightly running his thumb over her flushed cheek. Slowly, he bent down and placed a chaste kiss on her lips, but if wasn’t chaste for long. Soon she was clutching the back of his head in her hand and pulling him into a passionate battle of tongues.   
  
The intensity of her desire overwhelmed him and he struggled to keep his demon face in check as he felt her nails dig into the skin on his back. Cat like, she snaked her legs around his thighs and cupped his ass in her hands pushing him down into her inviting heat. It took all of his strength and willpower not to thrust into her.   
  
“Say it." He looked at her with begging eyes. She stood there in silence with a cryptic gaze, so he supplicated once more. “I need to hear you say it."   
  
She never broke her tormenting silence as she placed a kiss on his lips and returned her head to the pillow to gaze up at him. Spike felt a pang in his chest as he realised she didn’t have the strength to say it. His eyes began to well up once, but he pushed the tears back and gave her a forced smile. He dropped his head to her neck and began to mechanically kiss the soft skin under her earlobe when he heard it. It was a faint whisper, but it was there and it was impossible for his vampire senses not to pick it up.   
  
“I love you, Spike…"   
  
He slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. He found her sweetly smiling at him. He had seen that smile so many times, but it had never been directed at him. He brought a hand to her face and brushed a rebellious string of hair away from her perfect face.  
  
“I love you so much, Buffy Summers." He whispered before bending down for a kiss.   
  
Slowly he lowered his hips to hers, easing himself into her inviting centre. Buffy drew a sharp breath at the intensity of the moment. The emotions that his lovemaking to her stirred inside her were only rivalled by the ones she’d felt in that perfect place, in heaven. But that memory seemed so ancient and dimmed in that instant. Suddenly it dawned on her, for the first time since she’s come back, she had looked back on her ethereal experience without felling lost and broken inside. The realisation brought a smile on her face.   
  
“What? Something wrong?" he asked concerned, stopping immediately and hovering over her.   
  
“Nothing’s wrong… finally." She whispered encouraging him to move inside of her.   
  
Slowly he resumed pulling in and out of her in long, smooth stokes. His lips found hers for a passionate kiss, while his hands travelled down from her shoulders to caress her entire body. They completely ignored the loud protesting of the bed as it squealed in pain under their burden and the headboard was mercilessly banged against the wall of the room.   
  
Buffy could feel the energy build up inside her, the intensity of their emotions becoming too over whelming as they truly made love for the first time.   
  
“Spike!" she cried out as her orgasm washed over her body, causing her inner muscles to contract and clamp around him.   
  
He pulled in and out of her one more time before joining her in ecstasy. It seemed to take forever, but when they came down from their orgasms, Spike was laying on top of her and Buffy had her arms wrapped around the emotionally knocked-out vampire.   
  
***********************************   
  
“Oh my God!" Xander cried out, standing up as he heard the strange noise coming from upstairs. “He’s trying to kill her."   
  
“Oh, he’s killing her alright…" Anya sighed envious of the Slayer. She had gone too long without any. Ever since she had made up with Xander they had always been in death threatening situations, which meant – no sex. She pouted at the thought.   
  
“I wish I would die like that." Willow spoke hopefully.   
  
“Really?" Tara asked with a serious look on her face.   
  
“Oh-oh! No-no, not in that way. In-in a happy way, you know. In a with you way and-and so not in a with a guy way." Willow desperately tried to explain herself, she really didn’t want to lose Tara, not again. She sighed in relief when she saw the edges of her lover’s lips curl up into a sweet smile.   
  
**************************************   
  
“Hum!" Buffy sighed, resting her head on Spike’s marble chest. “This is good!" she drooled the words, running her index finger over the contour of his abdominal muscles. “Why didn’t I think of this earlier?"   
  
“Think of what, luv?" Spike asked.   
  
She turned to face him with her trademark smile and answered:   
  
“Telling you I love you."   
  
Spike could swear he felt his heart beat that time. He still hadn’t gotten used to hearing her say it. He felt he was living a dream… “Hell, I am living a dream!" he thought.   
  
“Really?" he smiled at her.   
  
“Really. You get all…" her hand stopped caressing his belly and travelled south. “…pointy." She finished her sentence.   
  
“So, you only told me you love me so I’d get… pointy."   
  
“Yeah." She said matter-of-factly. “Why else would I say it?"   
  
In a blink of an eye, she was laying on the bed, crushed under his weight.   
  
“Don’t even joke about that, Slayer!" he warned her. His face was as serious as a heart attack.   
  
She looked up at him and smiled.   
  
“Boy, I guess I found your sensitive spot, haven’t I."   
  
“You ARE my sensitive spot." He stated without any hesitation.   
  
They stared at each other for a while in silence, until he broke it.   
  
“Say it." He looked at her with pleading eyes.   
  
“I love you." She whispered.   
  
“God, Buffy, I love you!" he breathed before crushing her mouth with his.   
  
Slowly he manoeuvred his way between her legs and prepared to enter her, when she pushed him off of her.   
  
“No. No more… pointy Spike." She sat up on the bed, covering her chest with the sheet and pointed at his swollen member.   
  
“But I thought you liked…" with vampire speed he grabbed her by her arms and once more he was laying on top of her. “…pointy Spike." He finished his sentence placing himself at the edge of her entrance.   
  
“Spike, we have to go downstairs. I thought you wanted me to tell my friends and Dawn about us."   
  
He looked down on her and pouted like a child that doesn’t get to eat its desert.   
  
“Ok, fine! Just one more." She warned him.   
  
“Four!" Spike tried to bargain.   
  
“Four? No way!" she flung her head from side to side to emphasise her resolve.   
  
“Yes way." He spoke in a child like tone. “Puity puisssss."   
  
“Two."   
  
“Three."   
  
“Two."   
  
“Three."   
  
“Spike!"   
  
“Two and a half."   
  
“Two and a half? How do you make two and a half?" she asked confused.   
  
“You have a lot of things to learn, luv." He smiled at her wickedly.   
  
*****************************************   
  
“Finally!" Xander ran towards the Slayer who was coming down the stairs, with Spike following her close behind. “Are you ok? What did he do? Did he hurt you? Do you want me to beat him up for you?"   
  
“Xander? What?" she looked around a bit confused.   
  
“Well?"   
  
“Yes. None of your business. No. And a very bug NO on that last one. No one’s beating him up except me." She answered.   
  
“Huh?" Xander ran after her into the living room like a lost little puppy, but she ignored him.   
  
Buffy breathed in sharply. This was probably one of the most difficult things she would ever have to do in her life.   
  
“Dawn!" she called out to her sister.   
  
“Hey, Buffy." The young teenager gleefully greeted, her eyes never leaving the cardboard on the centre of the table.   
  
“Can you come here for a second?"   
  
“What for?"   
  
“I need to talk to you. In private." Buffy begged.   
  
“About what?"   
  
“Dawn!"   
  
“Is it about you and Spike doing the wild thing for mouths now and finally deciding to share the news with the rest of us, mere mortals." Dawn asked matter-of-factly.   
  
Buffy chocked at her sister’s words.   
  
“You know?"   
  
“Spike and Buffy what?" Xander asked astonished.   
  
“Of course. We all do." Dawn announced.   
  
“Spike, how could you!" she yelled.   
  
“Hey, I didn’t say a word."   
  
Realising he was telling the truth she turned to…   
  
“Tara?"   
  
“Oh, no-no. I-I didn’t say anything. No-not a word. I swear." Tara tried to explain.   
  
“Who and who is doing the what?" Xander continued to question, trapped in his own little world of make believe.   
  
“Then how?"   
  
“Well, we’re not dumb, blind or deaf." Dawn began.   
  
“Specially not deaf!" Anya emphasised, pointing at the ceiling.   
  
“Oh!" Buffy managed to say as it dawned on her.   
  
“Oh, it wasn’t today. I’ve known it for centuries. You guys are really bad at keeping secrets."   
  
“So you all know?" Spike finally spoke.   
  
“All, even It." Dawn began to answer, when she finally noticed the hysterical man next to her.   
  
“Buffy and Spike? Spike and Buffy are-“   
  
“Well, all except for Xander. He just refused to come down from his fantasy world." Dawn explained.   
  
“Me more smart that dumb Xander." It squealed joyfully.   
  
“Buffy and Spike have been doing what?"   
  
“You know, honey, that thing we love to do. Well, used to do. We haven’t done it in a really, really, really long time. You know, the thing you don’t like me mentioning in public! The S-E-X." Anya, gently caressed her lover’s back.   
  
“Anya, we can all read and write. I don’t think the spelling trick is going to work on us." Willow offered.   
  
“Oh, sorry!" Anya apologized.   
  
“You… and you have what?" Xander’s index finger frenetically alternated between pointing at the vampire and the Slayer.   
  
“Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s not permanent." Willow spoke.   
  
“Yeah, he gets this way when he gets too surprised. Once, he were doing the… thing, and I pushed my finger into-“   
  
“ANYA!" Xander cut her off, snapping out of his trance.   
  
“Yeah, please, spare us the gruelling details." Spike begged with a cocky grin.   
  
“I think I’m gonna be sick." Xander said resting his hand over his stomach and crunching up his face in disgust.   
  
“Honey, are you ok?" Anya asked, seemingly concerned. “Oh, please don’t be sick."   
  
“I’ll be fine once I get home. Let’s go." Xander said as he made his way out of the Summers residence.   
  
Anya quickly followed him out, but not before grabbing her coat and shouting after him:   
  
“Does that mean we get to have sex tonight?!"   
  
“ANYA!" Xander’s angry voice was heard from the front porch.   
  
“I guess not…" the ex-demon grumbled under her breath, dragging her feet as she exited the house.   
  
“You think he’ll be ok?" Buffy asked concerned.   
  
“Oh, the whelp will be fine. Just give him time." Spike reassured her putting his arm around her shoulder.   
  
A thundering silence settled in the air, as they all stared at the new couple. It just seemed so odd to see them so close and… not punching each other senseless. Dawn was the one to break the awkwardness.   
  
“So, you guys in for a game on scrabble?"   
  
“Yes!" Buffy immediately answered, relieved someone had actually spoken.   
  
Hurriedly she made her way to the table. She stopped dead in her tracks when she realised there was only one chair vacant. Spike easily noticed her discomfort. She wasn’t ready just yet to show too much intimacy in front of the gang. He understood and quickly offered:   
  
“Hum, I’ll get a chair from the kitchen." With slumped shoulders he turned around to leave.   
  
“No, Spike." He heard Buffy’s voice and turned around. “You can sit here. I’ll sit on your lap. That’s, if you don’t mind."   
  
Spike’s face immediately lit put and he jogged his way to the table, offering his knee as a chair to Buffy.   
  
“So, how do you play this thing?" the vampire asked, gently running his hand over Buffy’s lower back.   
  
“Easy. We give seven pieces to each player. Each piece has a letter written on it. See?" Willow began to explain, showing the small squares to the vampire. “The goal of the game is to-“   
  
“Oh, I know this. Clem has this game. He made me play once."   
  
“Clem? Really?" Buffy asked.   
  
“Yep. So, what are we waiting for?" Spike asked rubbing his hand together. “I’m real jammy at this game."   
  
“You’re what?" Buffy turned to face the vampire. “Let’s get this straight. No British slang is allowed. No fags, whelp, bugger, bollocks, none of those count as words. Just good old fashion American lingo."   
  
“That’s not bloody fair." Spike protested.   
  
“I don’t care. You’re out numbered, buddy." Buffy grinned wildly at the pouting vampire.   
  
“Hey, Dawn, there are pieces missing." Willow noticed as she handed out the smalls squares to everyone.   
  
“Are you sure?"   
  
“Yes, I check everywhere." Willow explained.   
  
“But, I-“ Dawn looked around. Something… no someone was missing. “IT!" she yelled.   
  
“Yesssss." A shy squeal was heard from the dark corner of the living room.   
  
“Come here." Dawn ordered.   
  
The small demon obeyed, hopping his way to her.   
  
“Did you eat the pieces?"   
  
“Noooooooo!" It drooled, frenetically moving his head from side to side.   
  
“It, don’t lie to me." Dawn warned.   
  
“No, me no eat. Me- hick!" the demon immediately placed a scrawny hand over his mouth as an onslaught of hiccups came over him.   
  
Seeing the young teenager’s serious glance, the demon caved in and his eyes drifted to the floor as he nervously shuffled his feet.   
  
“Me, sorry!"   
  
“Ah, It!" Dawn moaned in protest.   
  


The End

 


End file.
